SECURITY SITUATION IN ISRAEL

That this House notes with concern the deteriorating security situation in Israel's southern communities of Ashkelon, Sderot and the western Negav; condemns the firing of over 200 rockets and mortars, including long-range Katyusha rockets, from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip since 5 November 2008; recognises the toll these rocket attacks are taking on the people of Sderot in particular, two thirds of whom suffer post-traumatic stress disorder and whose lives are shaped by warning sirens and bomb shelters; acknowledges Hamas' violation of the ceasefire with Israel and its deliberate launching of rockets from populated areas into civilian territory; denounces the continued digging of tunnels in Gaza to smuggle arms, military equipment and militants into the territory to launch further attacks against Israel; further recognises the critical humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip; calls for rapid improvement in the humanitarian and economic circumstances of the Gazan people; urges Hamas to stop the rocket and mortar attacks in order that Israel can at all times keep the crossings into Gaza open; welcomes the Foreign Secretary's recent visit to Sderot, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, as well as his efforts on behalf of the Government to meet and work with those people who seek a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict; further recognises that the US-led Annapolis process has produced progress to date; and believes this represents the best opportunity to turn the two state solution into a reality.