Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made to date on lifting the blockade of Gaza.

During my visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 5-8 October, I was informed by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Israel is letting around 400 trucks of humanitarian aid from Israel into Gaza every day. The number of businessmen being allowed from Gaza to the West Bank is up to 200 per day. 1,500 Gazans had travelled to the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israel for Eid this week. Fishing goods and agricultural goods were now being transferred for sale in the West Bank. While this is a start to the progress of lifting the restrictions, the current ceasefire provides a critical window of opportunity for reaching a comprehensive agreement that tackles the underlying causes of the conflict, which should ensure that Israel lifts its restrictions fully as we have been calling Israel to do.