Bishop of Gloucester asks about Israeli military activity in the West Bank

The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question on the intensification of Israeli military activity in the West Bank on 30th January 2025, following a government statement on the humanitarian situation in Gaza:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I am grateful for this Statement and thank the Minister for her sensitive and careful comments. Would she accept that, although the ceasefire agreement offers a glimmer of hope that a different future is possible, the situation in the West Bank continues to go from bad to worse? What assessment have the Government made of Israel’s intensification of military action in the West Bank? The fear held by many, including those on these Benches who have just returned from that region, is that this is a precursor to full or partial annexation. What is the Government’s strategy for dealing with the deteriorating situation in the West Bank?

Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab, FCDO): The right reverend Prelate is right to remind us of this. This is a very complex situation and it is moving. We speak regularly with partners in the region and directly with leaders in Israel; we also use our presence in multilateral fora to make sure that these concerns are raised as often as we can, in the right way. It is difficult to imagine a situation where there is some progress only in one situation—these things are not completely separate, of course, and we must use every tool of influence that we possess in order to bring about the peace that we need.

Hansard