At today’s Foreign Office Questions session, the Foreign Secretary and Middle East Minister set out the government’s view that humanitarian aid must reach the remaining hostages in Gaza, and around the future of the Abraham Accords.
On the former, Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said: “Aid can be delivered effectively into Gaza. There are established mechanisms through the United Nations and its partners, and we want to see those mechanisms in place. The hon. Gentleman raises the vital question of ensuring that the hostages themselves get sufficient access to food. Both my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I have heard directly from Eli Sharabi, a released hostage, who has talked about Hamas’s deprivation of food from the hostages. That must stop, and they must immediately release all hostages.”
On the Abraham Accords, the Foreign Secretary said: “We should remember when thinking about 7 October that one of the objectives of Hamas was to tear apart the prospects of normalisation in the region. Notwithstanding the horrors and pain of the crisis in the region over these last months, the Abraham accords and Israel’s changed relationship with so many Gulf partners in particular, but also other Muslim countries, are important to keep hold of. We continue to discuss these issues, but there are no prospects until we get to a ceasefire.”
You can read the full session here.
