HC Deb 05 July 1995 vol 263 cc363-4
1. Mr. John Marshall

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the middle east peace process. [30893]

5. Mr. Burden

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the prospects for peace in the middle east. [30899]

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Douglas Hurd)

There are encouraging signs of progress between Israel and Syria, most recently during talks in Washington between their chiefs of staff. We hope that the Israelis and Palestinians will soon agree on arrangements to hold elections in the Palestinian territories and redeploy Israeli forces. I hope that that will happen by the new target date, 25 July, agreed by Mr. Peres and Mr. Arafat. We and our European Union partners are preparing to co-ordinate international observation of the elections and to provide 300 EU observers. Negotiations between Israel and Jordan on a series of agreements to follow up their peace treaty are on track.

Mr. Marshall

I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer. May I also thank him for the skill, dedication and charm with which he has undertaken his duties for a number of years? It must be a matter of great satisfaction to him that he leaves the world a safer and freer place than it was in 1989.

In view of the territorial concessions made by Israel, and as several of her neighbours have received an official royal visit, is it not high time that there was an official royal visit to the state of Israel?

Mr. Hurd

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, but I hope that he will not exaggerate.

My hon. Friend has raised an important point. There are currently no plans for a state visit to Israel, but there is no bar to such a visit in principle. His Royal Highness Prince Philip was there last year, and we warmly welcomed the President of Israel when he was here on VE day.

Mr. Burden

I welcome yesterday's announcement that a date has been agreed for confirmation of arrangements for self-rule between Israel and the Palestinians, but does the Foreign Secretary share my concern—which, I believe, is shared by many—about Israel's apparently ambiguous attitude to peace negotiations? It appears constantly to demand more concessions from those whose lands it occupies, while at the same time jeopardising the peace process by its attitude to settlement building and the building of facts on the ground in Jerusalem.

Does the Foreign Secretary agree that the help that the international community wishes to give the peace negotiations could be aided by our making it clear to Israel that we expect all parties to abide by all United Nations resolutions concerning the middle east?

Mr. Hurd

No one doubts that the process is difficult, but both Israel and the Palestinians have set their hand to it, and it is important that it should not lose impetus. The next step is to proceed with the redeployment of Israeli forces and the holding of Palestinian elections. It will be followed by a series of further steps that will have to end with a resolution of the question of Jerusalem.

Sir David Madel

May I ask about the economic policy aspect of the peace process? What kind of projects will the British Government support to help the Palestinians?

Mr. Hurd

There are a good many projects and our aid totals £83 million for the four years 1994–97. The projects include technical assistance to the police, involving vehicles and communications, training of nurses in Gaza—I have seen for myself how important that is—hydrology training and improving health care in Jericho.

Mr. Murphy

I am sure that the Secretary of State will welcome, as all hon. Members will, yesterday's resumption of peace talks between the Israelis and the PLO, but does he agree with a recent commentator that unless this country and its allies provide proper and tangible aid to Gaza and the west bank, the lack of jobs and the lack of cash in those regions will provide Hamas with its best recruiting sergeant?

Mr. Hurd

We are doing that. We were among the first to do so, even when Mr. Arafat and the PLO had no proper accounting procedures in place. We pressed them on that. Eventually, they got procedures in place and we started to pay and to help the police. With our European partners, we have been among the first to give precisely that practical help for the reasons that the hon. Gentleman stated.