Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines ordered by the Palestinian Authority are not prevented from entering Gaza by the government of Israel.

We welcome the steps that the parties have taken so far to coordinate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the news that on the 17 February the first shipment of vaccines from the Palestinian Authority was brought into Gaza, with the approval of Israel. We encourage further cooperation between the two parties in this regard. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv and our Consulate-General in Jerusalem regularly urge the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to take steps to improve health and economic conditions in Gaza. We will continue to monitor the availability of vaccines for Palestinians in Gaza and will raise with the relevant authorities accordingly.