Israel and Palestine

Part of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – in the House of Commons am ar 24 Hydref 2023.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of James Cleverly James Cleverly Foreign Secretary, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

All the conversations that we have had with Israel, with Egypt and with intermediaries who are able to maintain lines of communication with Hamas have been about the preservation of human life. Let me put this on the record once again: we completely support Israel’s right, and indeed duty, of self-defence. We are only just starting to see the scale of the brutality. Video evidence retrieved from those individuals who brutalised and murdered Israeli citizens on 7 October has now been put in the public domain, and it is worse than any of us could have imagined. We absolutely stand by Israel’s right to self-defence, and we have said that we want to work with Israel, with Egypt, with the countries in the near neighbourhood and, of course, with those who are the de facto Government in Gaza to minimise civilian casualties. We have had that commitment from Israel; we have had no such commitment from Hamas.