Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the United Nations’ assessment that Gaza will be uninhabitable by the year 2020.

We continue to encourage the reconciliation process in which the Palestinian Authority resumes control of Gaza and restores effective and accountable governance; and that Israel lifts its restrictions in order to ease the suffering of ordinary Palestinians and allow the Gazan economy to grow. We encourage the PA, Israel and regional/international actors to put forward long-term sustainable proposals for ending Hamas' rule. In 2019/20 DFID will provide £16 million in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, which will help support the health system, including improved trauma care, and contribute to emergency food aid for around 1.2 million vulnerable people. To help address the underlying causes of the humanitarian situation we are investing to build the capacity of Gaza's water and energy services and to address barriers to trade. Ultimately, Gaza's challenges can only be resolved with a political solution that delivers peace, stability and the easing of movement and access restrictions.