Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches civilians in Gaza.
We are working closely with partners in international agencies and in the region to get aid to where it is desperately needed. Our focus must be on practical solutions that save lives, and we need a humanitarian pause now to allow humanitarian actors and Gazans to operate and move safely, and enable hostages to be released. Israel must also take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza, including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more routes into Gaza and restoring and sustaining water, fuel and electricity. We continue to press Israel to increase the flexibility and visibility on goods allowed into Gaza. It must:
The Foreign Secretary has also appointed his Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mark Bryson-Richardson, who is based in the region and is working intensively to address the blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza.