Mr Hamish Falconer

I agree with the hon. Member. It is vital that aid goes to the purposes for which it is intended. To be clear, we imagine this international fund being of a much smaller magnitude than the much larger funds that would be required for humanitarian assistance or the reconstruction of Gaza. I turn to the important questions raised by the hon. Member for Melksham and Devizes (Brian Mathew) and the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton)—the spokespeople for the two Opposition parties. In relation to what assessment we make of the various proposals, we welcome the Arab plan. We think it has considerable merit and is a good place to start in thinking through the vital questions of reconstruction and the future governance of Gaza. I am happy to confirm to the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills that we see no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza. We think that the Cairo summit made important breakthroughs. We will discuss this at the G7 meeting and as Members will be aware it will be discussed over the coming days by negotiators from a range of countries in the region. The Palestinian Authority are clearly very important in all of this. They are the authoritative voice for the Palestinian people. We are committed to supporting them through their journey of reform, which is vital. We have given £5 million to support their reform initiatives. There is a range of views about the future governance of Gaza and the role that the Palestinian Authority might play, and some of them were discussed at the Cairo summit. We will play our full role, as the Opposition spokesperson and many Members would expect, so that the provisions in place for the future of Gaza can ensure governance and security both for the people of Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and the Israelis themselves. Before I make some general remarks about conflict prevention and civil society, I want to welcome the work of the APPG on conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding; I would be very happy to hear more about it. Civil society has a vital role to play. We will support it fully. We recognise the sensitivities on both sides. Several Members made reference to Senator Kerry’s comments that the problem in 2014 was not necessarily a gulf in the positions but a gulf in the trust, and we see that civil society plays an important role in resolving that.