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Middle East

I thank hon. and right hon. Members for their contributions to the debate, which has been good. In particular, I thank the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington) for his speech, which was, as always, thoughtful and well informed. He posed several questions that were picked up in other hon. Members’ speeches. We are right to concentrate on the situation in Gaza and Israel. We could, as the hon. Member for Reigate (Mr. Blunt) said, have talked about several issues for some time. He has taken part in our many debates on the middle east, and I share his frustration. This is my first topical debate. I did not know what that was until someone explained it to me this morning, but I know that there certainly is not enough time to deal with subjects such as this. The hon. Member for Aylesbury asked many extremely relevant questions, and set the scene of the appalling situation in Gaza with vivid descriptions. I say to him that we must keep up the pressure on Israel to see the good political sense in lifting the blockades. I doubt whether there is an hon. Member in the Chamber who would seek to defend the insane actions of Palestinian jihadist extremists. I think that it was my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Sandra Osborne) who described some of the effects that restrictions on gas supplies have had in Gaza. It is bad enough that the Israelis are restricting the supply of gas, but it was absolute insanity for Palestinian Islamic jihadists to blow up the pumping station at the border and kill two Israeli security personnel. I do not know why that sort of thing happens, although there are many theories, some of which we have heard today. Perhaps there are elements who want the situation to intensify and become worse—I do not know. The situation is doing no one any good. We have to keep making the case for diplomacy instead of those kinds of violent confrontations. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Central (Mr. Sarwar) outlined vividly the dire situation in Gaza, especially regarding key areas such as health care provision. We have heard several distressing accounts of children and others dying because they were not allowed admission to hospitals, in Israel and elsewhere, where they could have received treatment that might have saved their lives. He makes an important point, although I disagree with some of the points that he made. I say to him that it is quite right to emphasise that every time there is a perceived injustice, it creates more enemies for Israel and the peace process. The dilemma is not easy for Israel to solve, or for its defence forces or its Parliament, but it is making a great mistake by taking its eye off the fact that the deaths of children create more enemies. I would never condone the violent attacks on Israel. There is no defence for that approach, which has got people nowhere for the past 60 years. It has simply meant that people have been killed and maimed all over the place. The hon. Member for Reigate made an interesting speech. He said that the international community should perhaps pull back a little and let the Israeli and Palestinian people face the issues that will determine the fate of both their countries. I have a lot of sympathy with that point of view, although I do not think that any of us can be sure what would happen if we were to do that. There have been attempts to do it in the past, which usually took the form of military invasions of Israel. Those scars are still there in the psychology of that nation and in its approach to its neighbours. However, there is a kernel of truth in what the hon. Member for Reigate said. He made the important point that Israel and Palestine’s neighbours must wake up to the fact that they hold the key to the future of that region, and that it is no good thinking that the Americans can sort it out or that the British, EU, Russians or Chinese will sort it out. Ultimately, the situation will be changed by the decisions of the people who live in that region. My hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Tom Levitt) and the hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr. Davey) made constructive points, which I was glad to hear. I very much hope that, as a consequence of the debate, the talks that will take place in London from this afternoon onwards—the ad hoc liaison committee talks—will at least keep the momentum going that was started at Annapolis. We have to do that. There is no other show in town as far as the diplomatic community is concerned. Finally, the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) made an important point about King Abdullah, to whom we are all grateful for the renaissance in Saudi international diplomacy that has helped to put more life back into the Arab peace plan. I, too, pay tribute to the Arab League for its work. It being one and a half hours after the commencement of proceedings, the motion lapsed, without Question put, pursuant to the temporary Standing Order (Topical Debates).