Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department works in cooperation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to ensure that UK aid to the Palestinians facilitates peace-building with Israel.

Our financial assistance to the Occupied Palestinian Territories helps to maintain stability and is underpinned by HMG’s long-standing objective that the only way to allow Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace is through a negotiated two-state solution. As joint-Minister for the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, I ensure that my officials liaise closely to deliver development programmes in support of a two-state solution which requires collaborating equally with the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority.