Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to push for greater humanitarian access to Gaza.

As the Prime Minister has said, the world will not tolerate any more excuses on humanitarian assistance. We continue to press Israel to end its aid restrictions and ensure that the UN and humanitarian partners can work safely and effectively. The Foreign Secretary recently wrote to Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar, alongside French and German counterparts, calling on Israel to urgently increase aid, and implement the UN's plan to prepare the civilian population for winter. I raised these issues with Deputy Foreign Minister Haskel on 5 December and the Foreign Secretary raised this again with Foreign Minister Sa'ar in their call on 8 December. We continue to work alongside our international partners to press for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of the hostages, better protection of civilians and a significant increase in aid to Gaza. At a UN Security Council meeting on 18 November, the Foreign Secretary reiterated that there is no excuse for Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid and that they must be lifted.