Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the humanitarian situation in the north of Gaza.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is unacceptable. The Foreign Secretary's statement to Parliament underlined our serious concern about northern Gaza. On 16th October I visited Al-Arish and saw the scale of humanitarian aid denied entry into Gaza, Israel can and must do more to ensure aid flows freely into Gaza. Very little aid is being allowed in, and civilians, medical personnel, hospitals and healthcare centres are coming under fire at an unacceptable rate. Israel must do much more to protect civilians, including the medics northern Gaza desperately needs, and let more aid in now. The Prime Minister met with President Biden, Chancellor Scholz, and President Macron in Berlin on 18 October to discuss the situation in northern Gaza and the Middle East more broadly. He made our position clear: "the world will not tolerate any more excuses on humanitarian assistance. Civilians in northern Gaza need food, now." We continue, alongside our partners, to press Israel to take action - Israel must show the world it is protecting civilians in compliance with international humanitarian law.