Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure the safe passage of (a) local and (b) international (i) medical and (ii) humanitarian personnel through the Erez crossing during airstrike attacks on Gaza.

We urge Israel to allow access into and out of Gaza and the West Bank, in accordance with international humanitarian law, for humanitarian actors, reconstruction materials and those, including Palestinians, travelling for medical purposes. The British Embassy in Tel Aviv regularly raises the importance of this issue with the Israeli authorities. We strongly condemn all forms of violence and incitement to violence directed towards healthcare workers. The wounded and critically ill in Gaza and the West Bank should be able to access the urgent medical care they need. The UK Government welcomes any effort to cooperate between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, including in the healthcare sector. When the Foreign Secretary wrote to the Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen on 10 May, he asked him to facilitate humanitarian access to Gaza.