Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support he is giving to EU proposals to provide sea access to Gaza.

The EU, with UK encouragement, has examined a number of options to encourage an easing of movement and access into and out of Gaza. This includes the possibility of EU assistance in establishing a sea-link from Gaza to another international port, currently envisaged in Cyprus. The UK and EU have consistently called on the Government of Israel to ease movement, including at sea, and will continue to do so. We have also been pushing for an increase in the size of the fishing zone off the coast of Gaza, in line with the limit of twenty nautical miles stipulated in the Oslo accords. On 10 September, during Israeli Prime Minister Mr Netanyahu’s visit to the UK, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr David Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), emphasised the importance of improving access to Gaza.