Tom Tugendhat

Those who stand with the Palestinian people stand against Hamas. Again and again, sadly, we have seen Hamas torturing and murdering so many. Does that leave others innocent? Of course it does not. Does it leave Israel innocent? No. The deaths of John Chapman, James Kirby, Jim Henderson and four others who were not British while working for the World Central Kitchen shows that civilian casualties have been too common, and the Australian inquiry into the events points to extremely clear problems that the Israel Defence Forces must resolve. The Opposition also condemn the blockages of aid getting into the territory and Egypt’s closure of the southern border, just as we condemn the unnecessary Israeli restrictions. However, we recognise that aid has been weaponised by the Hamas leadership that has been in control for more than 20 years. Again and again, Hamas have chosen to hurt, murder and destroy their own people for the political benefit of their masters in Tehran and their vile ideology. Britain now has a choice. Do we stand with those who see a different future? Do we want to support Palestinian voices who are rightly crying out for justice, and Israeli voices who have clearly said, “Enough”? Do we want to recognise that the abuses we have seen, which states such as Jordan and Egypt condemn, have continued for too long? That is the position we should be holding, working with Egypt which controls the southern border and with Jordan which rightly observes the abuses we have seen far too often by settlers in the west bank. Will the Minister please commit to engaging more closely with those countries supporting Palestinian and Israeli voices seeking peace? Perhaps more importantly, given the extension the Minister made into areas such as Yemen, will he look at the root of so much of the violence and cruelty he listed today, which is of course in Iran? The regime in Tehran has brought murder, hatred, death and destruction to hundreds of thousands, including some people here in the United Kingdom. In Yemen, Gaza and sadly across the middle east, we have seen the price of the vile ayatollah’s regime. It is time for that to end and to relieve the suffering of so many in the Arab world and across the whole of the continent.