William Hague statement on Gaza conflict

William Hague statement on Gaza conflict; ENGLAND: London: Whitehall: INT William Hague MP (Foreign Secretary) to podium William Hague MP (Foreign Secretary) statement SOT - Good morning - Today met President and Vice President of new National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces - First visit to Europe - They are very welcome here in LOndon - Had detailed discussion on how coalition will make progress - Situation is very grave - more than 30 thousand people died - Hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced - Millions need humanitarian assistance - We will continue to step up our assistance - Coalition formation is very encouraging development - It is important that they respect minority rights are inclusive of all communities and committed to democratic future - Regime has committed violence and rape against own country - Coalition must uphold high standards of human rights and humanitarian law - Preventing sexual violence and abuse of prisoners - these things are very important - I'm encouraged by their response to that - Have met President of National Coalition - Welcome his commitment to reach out to all opposition groups and respect human rights - To demonstrate the coalition can be a credible alternative Assad regime - Still a lot of work to be done - In depth discussions will now take place in London with wide range of countries to channel assistance to people of Syria and build up our links - Meeting will focus on practicality - Further EU discussions Monday - Will make HoC statement next week - Hope today's meeting will mark turning point for Syrian people - Am encouraged by what I've heard and seen and hope London discussions will bring greater assistance to people suffering today in Syria Q+A re ISRAEL + HAMAS: - Hamas bears principle responsibility but there are on both sides - I spoke to Israeli FM yesterday - It needs to de-escalate conflict and avoid civilian casualties - When Israe...