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Gaza

My Lords, the House will be grateful to the Minister for his report on the Gaza conflict and his reflections on how anyone can move forward from this problem. Without doubt this is a hideous situation, and must be classed as an appalling tragedy. It may be just one in a long list of Middle East savagery and, despite the blotting out of up to 1,000 or so lives, small in the grim arithmetic of humanitarian calamities, but, none the less, it is particularly vivid and ugly, particularly avoidable, and particularly frustrating. We reflect once again on how prevention is always better than cure in violent conflict—as Mr. Obama's new foreign policy team, rightly, keeps pointing out. But, of course, this time it was too late. Perhaps the most constructive thing that we can do at this stage, amid all the destruction, bloodshed and suffering, and amidst the still very fragile truce conditions, is to try to draw some lessons once again and hope that they can be applied to prevent yet another grim ““next time””. Indeed, the Minister was seeking to do that. Where might one start? First and most obviously, the international community still has a lot to learn about conflict prevention and the protection of civilians when conflict occurs. Despite the whole UN system—about which the Minister knows more than most of us—despite the many brave UN personnel involved on this occasion, despite the condemnations of the UN Secretary-General, despite the whole machinery of the Geneva conventions, and despite all the brave declarations of human rights, apparently nothing could be done to prevent families being burnt to death, industry and agriculture in the Gaza strip being extensively destroyed, infrastructure being deeply damaged and most aspects of normal life being torn apart. Of course the air is thick with accusations. The issue of war crimes is, as the Minister said, being investigated, but it is much too late for the many who are dead. The claim that phosphorous was used, inflicting terrible burns, also has to be investigated. Secondly, it has to be recognised, and if possible understood, that both sides in this catastrophe were acting in a mood of desperation and fear. Israel could simply no longer tolerate having rockets of increasing range and power rained on civilians indiscriminately day after day after day. This morning there was a report that up to 10,000 rockets have been poured on Israeli towns. That was the Israeli stance and their outlook. For their part, the Hamas rulers of Gaza apparently believe that their only recourse or means of protest at the locking in of 1.5 million people in this tiny area was to keep firing regardless of the riposte it might bring or the way that it put innocent Palestinians right in the firing line, with tragic results, as we have seen. Thirdly, both parties seemed to lose sight totally—they were not the only ones—of the need for an overarching commitment to a viable and unified Palestinian state. That is the declared objective of statesmen from the Oslo accords onwards, of the quartet and every would-be peacemaker in the region, and yet now it seems further away than ever. Fourthly, one has to ask not just about the failure of the outside powers—the US and the EU—to prevent the slaughter but the question: where were the key regional actors in the run-up to all this? Surely an obvious lesson for the future is that from now on there must be a very much bigger and more substantial role for nearby countries, such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt—mentioned by the Minister—and the Gulf States, in handling the issues, in diplomatic endeavour, and of course in the economic and physical development and the recovery and rebuilding of Gaza. It is interesting to note that Turkey, in particular, has turned into one of Israel's harshest critics, sharing the very widespread judgment that a country that it was always close to, admired and worked with, had on this occasion indulged in a truly ferocious reaction, however sorely tried and provoked it had been. We now have a string of Arab peace plans for Israel and Palestine, but surely the time for stately conferences and documents is now over, and the time for decisive action on all fronts, diplomatic and directly supportive, has come. What now is needed? The Minister has given us some of his thoughts; let me try to add to them. First, obviously, we need a ceasefire that holds. The Minister said that it must be robust. It is not robust this morning; this very morning, rockets were being fired into Israel. So that is asking a lot, but it is essential. Secondly, humanitarian assistance must go to Gaza on a massive and continuing scale to meet widespread misery, disease, hunger and water and sanitation problems. Thirdly, there needs to be an early agreement on a monitoring force to ensure that entry points for supplies are kept properly open, that tunnels are closed and that continuing rocket-firing is instantly pinpointed and halted. Fourthly, and most importantly, we need to do everything possible to bolster Palestinian moderates—who are there, such as they are—and to begin to sew together again the Palestinian cause. In my view, that is the heart of the matter. With a united Palestinian cause, the whole process can move forward. If Israel can meet a united and responsible Palestine, with huge international support behind it, including ours, there can be progress with give on both sides and real pressure on Israel to pull back and stop further settlements and settler expansion. We hope that that can be stepped up by Mr Obama and his team among others. With Hamas and al-Fatah in a state of civil war, as now, still killing each other, none of that can be achieved. What are Palestine's real prospects if Hamas still stands between the Palestinians and the viable Palestine state that we all want to work for? My final conclusion is that although we of course look to the new American Administration to play their part in both safeguarding and, at the same time, firmly restraining Israel, all outside intervention from the Western world will come to nought unless and until all the regional players throw their full and sustained weight behind a settlement, or at least a modus vivendi: an agreement to disagree but to live without constant violence. We all know the excellent George Mitchell, Mr Obama's new appointee to the region. He will find the scene very different from Northern Ireland, where he did a wonderful job, but that is one formula for how to live while agreeing to disagree on which he may be able to build with the various faction leaders, although he gave a very pessimistic interview this morning about even that. There are those who go further and say that the days of American, British, French or EU involvement and interest in the Middle East and its whole horror story are just over: we are no longer the major players. It is true that oil, which always used to be the reason cited for Western involvement, is now less significant as the world moves towards a new energy mix, but, in the global order of things, we all have what Anne-Marie Slaughter, one of the new appointees to the Obama team, calls a responsibility to protect. We, the British, can and must make a very significant contribution to restoring stability, basing it on our deep experience of how the Middle East works and sharing that experience with our American friends rather more vigorously and confidently than we have in the recent past. Incidentally, we can also speak to the other new world power centres, such as the rising Asian nations, rather more effectively than the Americans through such networks as the Commonwealth. The United States now sees itself as part of a team working for peace and different patterns of democracy resting on different cultures—or that is how it needs to see itself, rather than seeking to shape the world according to American values, however worthy those are. The words that Mr Obama used in his inaugural address, ““humility and restraint””, are indeed the qualities most required. That is the 21st century pattern: a network of mutually respectful nations that replaces the mindset of superpowers, top dogs and power blocs of the 20th century. If we all approach the immediate future in that spirit, there is just a chance that out of the rubble and spilt blood of Gaza some real progress may yet come.