Labour MP condemns secret filming of UK parliamentary delegation in Israel
A senior Labour MP has condemned the secret filming of a UK parliamentary delegation's visit to Israel after private conversations were shared online by Israel's deputy foreign minister.
Emily Thornberry, who serves as chair of parliament's foreign affairs select committee, asked the UK government to intervene on Tuesday after a video was posted on Instagram without her "knowledge or consent" by Israel's deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel.
When discussing her recent trip to Israel with the foreign affairs select committee, Thornberry asked Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer: "Would you expect, minister, if there was a visiting delegation of members of parliament to the House of Commons, for the delegation to be videoed without their knowledge or consent?"
Falconer replied: "Certainly not. I think that'd be very unusual."
Thornberry then said: "Or for it to be put onto Instagram and indeed briefed to, let's say, the Daily Telegraph in disparaging terms."
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Falconer said: "I'm not familiar with the details, but clearly if someone was visiting the House of Commons, we want to show them courtesy."
Thornberry then replied with: "It would be particularly bad, wouldn't it, if it was the deputy foreign minister of Israel who would be videoed in the UK and for disparaging comments to be made about her evidence or a private meeting that she'd had, let's say, with us?
"Because the opposite has just happened to us and a video of us at the Knesset meeting the deputy foreign minister has been posted on Instagram.
"We understand that, I mean, certainly we had no knowledge that it was being videoed and assumed, of course, that it would never happen and I have to say I've just found out about it, and to say that I'm cross might be an understatement."
British MP and Foreign Affairs Committee chair Emily Thornberry asked the UK government to take action after Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sharren Haskel, posted a video on Instagram without her “knowledge or consent.” pic.twitter.com/YkJq6upU8M
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During the 60-second clip, which was still online as of 18:00 GMT on Tuesday, a visibly irate Haskel asked Thornberry if she would visit the West Bank if elections were held there tomorrow.
Barely 20 seconds into offering a reply, Haskel interrupted a flustered Thornberry and said: “The fact is that there’s no election because the day after Hamas is going to take control.
"If we agree in any way to a two-state solution, the Palestinian Authority is going to take control of Gaza, it’ll be in the hands of Hamas again. So the fact is you’re asking me to give Gaza back to Hamas."
The video then jumps to a different angle of Haskel where she says: "When people come and tell us you have to do the two-state solution now, for us it means you give it (control) to Hamas back. And that’s something we won’t accept."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government has repeatedly rejected calls for Palestinian sovereignty, and last July, Israel's parliament passed a resolution that overwhelmingly rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state, in defiance of the Oslo Accords.
The Accords, which were signed in 1993 and 1995 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), were meant to lead to an independent Palestinian state by establishing the Palestinian Authority (PA) - a temporary self-governing body.
But the accords included clauses that created new challenges for Palestinians under occupation - such as the forfeiting of more than 60 percent of the West Bank under Israeli control, and the introduction of controversial security coordination between Israel and the PA.
Since then, Israel has retained overall control of the occupied West Bank and imposed a complete blockade of Gaza in 2007, when Hamas came to power through legislative elections.
Israel risks breaching international law
On Monday, the UK urged Israel to restore Gaza’s electricity supply, warning that failing to do so risked breaching international law.
The comments came as Israel announced late on Sunday that it had cut off Gaza's electricity supply, a week after it suspended delivery of humanitarian supplies to the territory.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said Downing Street was “deeply concerned” by reports that Israel had cut off Gaza’s electricity and urged Israel to reverse its decision.
"Our position is humanitarian aid should never be contingent on a ceasefire or used as a political tool," the spokesman said.
Asked whether the move was against international law, he said this was "a matter for an international court" but added: "A halt on goods and supplies entering Gaza, including basic needs such as electricity, risks breaching Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law."
The suspension of aid and electricity for Gaza comes as negotiators from Israel and Hamas met in Doha on Tuesday for talks aimed at reviving the ceasefire agreement, which has stalled after Israel refused to enter into the second phase of the deal.
Hamas on Monday said that Israel had also failed to live up to its side of the agreement by refusing to withdraw its troops from the border area between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, and preventing outside aid from reaching Gaza directly.
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