Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the impact of the closure of the Rafah crossing by the government of Egypt on the reconstruction programme in Gaza.

The Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism is now working. Over 52,000 people have been able to buy materials to repair their homes. Part of the UK pledge at the Gaza Reconstruction Conference in October 2014 is support for the Mechanism and materials entering through Gaza/Israel crossings. We are, however, concerned about the closure of the Rafah Crossing and the impact that this has on urgent medical and other priority cases in Gaza. We have raised this with our contacts with the Egyptian government and asked the Egyptian authorities to show flexibility in opening the crossing.