Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies of the Israeli government's policy on a two-state solution.

We support a two-state solution that guarantees security and stability for both the Israeli and Palestinian people; Gaza is Occupied Palestinian Territory and will be part of a future Palestinian state, and the Palestinian Authority has an important long-term role to play. We must work with our allies to provide serious, practical and enduring support needed to bolster the Palestinian Authority.

We want to see an end to the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible and are calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.

There are five vital steps:

- A political horizon which provides a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution.

- The formation of a new Palestinian Government for the West Bank and Gaza, accompanied by an international support package.

- Removing Hamas's capacity to launch attacks against Israel.

- The release of all Israeli hostages.

- Hamas no longer in charge of Gaza.

The Foreign Secretary has reiterated these messages with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other senior Israeli political leaders, including during his visit to Israel on 24 January.