Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support improved (a) electricity provision b) rates and speed of approvals for patient permits and c) access to construction materials in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

a) The UK will work with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, other donors and the Office of the Quartet to provide a sustainable electricity supply to Gaza. This requires greater domestic electricity capacity and energy imports from Israel and Egypt as well as institutional reform.

b) My officials and I regularly raise the issuance of medical permits. I most recently raised our concerns about the situation in Gaza with the office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) in May. We hold regular discussions with the Palestinian Ministry of Health on their plans to respond to the immediate needs in the health sector in Gaza.

c) DFID enables reconstruction efforts in Gaza through our support to the Materials Monitoring Unit of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, which monitors the import, storage, supply and use of construction materials. The UK continues to call for a more comprehensive lifting of movement and access restrictions through a political agreement as the only long-term solution to construction efforts.