Middle East

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General – in the House of Commons at 12:47 pm on 20 November 2012.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of William Hague William Hague The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 12:47, 20 November 2012

Of course all our efforts have to be directed to making sure there is a ceasefire, and only at a subsequent stage could one make the judgment that my right hon. and learned Friend is inviting me to make. I have not shied away from it in the past, as he knows; in fact, during the Lebanon war when we were in opposition, I was very clear about the disproportionality of what happened. In this case, we have to ask ourselves whether the current conflict in Gaza would be taking place without the increase in rocket attacks, which have gone up from 200 in 2010 to more than 1,300 before this conflict began and up to last week. That is clearly an intolerable situation in the south of Israel, so we have to bear that in mind as well.