Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the ability of the Palestinian Authority to respond to the covid-19 pandemic.

We are deeply concerned about the impact of a COVID-19 outbreak in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and especially in Gaza. However, both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities report good cooperation in response to COVID-19. UN agencies, the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government are working together to ensure that essential medical supplies and staff are able to access Gaza. The UK's $1 million funding contribution will enable the World Health Organisation and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity.