Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what funding the UK Government is providing for security in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to (a) UNRWA and (b) the Palestinian Authority.
Answered by James Cleverly
Budgets for 2020 were outlined in our Statistics in International Development report available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2020. Our future spending allocations will be set in the next Spending Review and full budgets for 2021 will be published in due course, including in our regular Statistics on International Development website and in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to the (a) Palestinian Authority and (b) Israeli Authorities on the urgent need for elections to renew the democratic mandate of the Presidency and the Parliament.
Answered by James Cleverly
We are disappointed that elections in the Occupied Palestinian Territories have been postponed. The Palestinian people should be allowed to enjoy their democratic rights - and Israel must allow voting for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, in line with the Oslo Accords. We urge further work towards genuine and democratic national elections for all Palestinians, which is crucial to the establishment of a viable and sovereign Palestinian State.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Israeli government on covid19 vaccinations in that region.
Answered by James Cleverly
The British Embassy Tel Aviv and the British Consulate-General Jerusalem are in regular contact with the relevant parties and continue to raise the issue of timely access to vaccines. The Foreign Secretary most recently raised this during his visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories on 26 May. The UK is committed to global equitable access to effective vaccines as demonstrated by our £548 million contribution to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) - the international initiative to support global equitable access to vaccines. We are pleased that the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) were among the first to benefit from the COVAX scheme with delivery of over 61,000 doses that arrived on 17 March 2021. Since that initial shipment, we are pleased that several further deliveries have arrived in the OPTs, including most recently on 1 June 2021.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what additional funding the Government plans to provide for emergency assistance to Gaza.
Answered by James Cleverly
I announced on 20 May that the UK is providing an initial £3.2 million to UNRWA's emergency flash appeal, which launched on 19 May. The emergency appeal by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) focuses on meeting the immediate humanitarian needs of vulnerable Palestinians living in Gaza.
This UK support will help UNRWA deliver life-saving humanitarian aid to those that need it most. Existing UK aid to UNRWA is already helping the Agency to provide food supplies to more than one million refugees in Gaza this year. The international community needs to ensure UNRWA is able to save lives and reduce the suffering.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on UK funded projects in Gaza of the 11 day Israeli bombardment.
Answered by James Cleverly
The UK welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza on 20 May, which is an important step to ending the cycle of violence and loss of civilian life. It is now important for Israel to facilitate rapid humanitarian access in and out of Gaza. As the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have made clear, this cycle of violence must stop.
We have not yet completed an assessment of the effect of the conflict on UK supported programmes. We are following up with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which the UK funds, on their initial assessment of damage to their installations and interruption to services. The World Bank is commencing a more comprehensive Rapid Damage and Needs assessment, which is expected to report in one month.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many meetings officials based at the embassy in Tel Aviv have had with representatives of Palestinian citizens of Israel in the last (a) 12 months and (b) five years.
Answered by James Cleverly
The British Embassy in Tel Aviv maintains relations with a wide range of contacts, including Arab citizens of Israel, as part of the normal business of the embassy.