Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2020 to Question 124769 and with reference to the cessation of polymerase chain reaction covid-19 testing in Gaza on 6 December 2020, what steps his Department is taking to help support (a) testing and (b) control of covid-19 in the Gaza Strip.

We remain concerned about the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. We are aware of the temporary cessation of COVID-19 testing in Gaza on 6th December and welcome reports from the World Health Organisation that further testing kits arrived in Gaza on 7th December and testing resumed.

We have already delivered vital support to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Occupied Palestinian Territories through £1.25 million in funding (World Health Organisation with £630,000 and United Nations Children's Fund with £620,000). This funding helped to provide over 20,000 testing kits, mainly in Gaza.