Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

As the Foreign Secretary said to the House on 20th March, we strongly oppose Israel's resumption of hostilities. We urgently want to see a return to a ceasefire. More bloodshed is in no-one's interest. Hamas must release all the hostages and negotiations must resume. We want Israel and Hamas to re-engage with negotiations, we continue to condemn Hamas, of course, for their actions on October 7th 2023, their refusal to release the hostages, and their ongoing threat to Israel, but we are also resolute in calling on Israel to abide by international law and to lift the unacceptable restrictions on aid and demand the protection of civilians. Since the renewed outbreak of hostilities, the Foreign Secretary has spoken to US Secretary of State Rubio, to EU High Representative Kallas, to UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher and plans to speak to his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa'ar and Palestinian Prime Minister Mustafa.