Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Palestinian Authority to rescind its request to Israel to reduce electricity supply to Gaza.

We are aware that Israel reduced the power supply to Gaza in June this year following a request from the Palestinian Authority (PA), in the course of a dispute with Hamas. I visited Gaza on 21 August and saw the extent of the electricity crisis first hand. Our Consul-General to Jerusalem raised the humanitarian situation in Gaza with both President Abbas and Prime Minister Hamdallah recently. We welcome the agreement on 2 October setting out plans for the resumption of PA administrative control in Gaza. We have encouraged the Palestinian authorities to ensure that plans are in place for this transition, to meet the needs of the Gazan people and to ease their suffering.