Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the statement of 10 July 2014 by the Secretary General of the UN on the escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine.

We support the statement of 10 July 2014 from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. There has now been further escalation with Israel's ground operation started on 17 July. The UK will continue working towards our three policy objectives for the Gaza crisis - to secure a ceasefire, to alleviate humanitarian suffering, and to keep alive the prospects for peace negotiations, which are the only hope of breaking this cycle of violence and devastation once and for all.