Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with Qatar on ending hostilities in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

We 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. This remains the focus of all our diplomatic effort.

Vital elements for a lasting peace include:

• the release of all hostages;

• 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;

• Hamas no longer being in charge of Gaza; and,

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

The Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister have reiterated these messages in their contacts with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other senior Israeli political leaders, as well as leaders in Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon in recent weeks.

We remain in close contact with Qatari partners on all aspects of the conflict. The Foreign Secretary spoke to HE Dr. Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Qatari Minister of state on 13 March in Cyprus to discuss advancing aid to Gaza, and also met with the HE Qatari Foreign Minister and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on 7 March to discuss the conflict in Gaza. The Foreign secretary also met HE Sheikh Mohammed and the Qatari Minister of International Cooperation HE Lolwah Rashid Al-Khater during his visit to Doha on 25 January and announced the first UK-Qatar joint consignment of aid to Gaza.