Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to help tackle starvation and malnutrition on the Gaza strip.

Palestinians are facing a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis. It is crucial that we keep the flow of aid moving into Gaza to end the suffering.

The Foreign Secretary has announced a further £10 million in aid funding for the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), bringing the total spend to over £100 million this financial year.

We are working with our partners to get aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air. This includes supporting the United Nations World Food Programme to deliver a new humanitarian land corridor from Jordan into Gaza; air-dropping life-saving food and medicines directly to the Tal Al-Hawa hospital in northern Gaza in conjunction with Jordan;, and, with Cyprus, the US, UAE and others, we will support the delivery of humanitarian aid by sea to a new temporary US military pier in Gaza, via a maritime corridor from Cyprus. As well as 150 tonnes of UK aid that entered Gaza 13th March, which included tents and hygiene supplies.

We are calling on Israel to increase access for aid through land routes and fully open Ashdod Port, scale up the Jordan corridor with a streamlined screening and delivery process, open a crossing in northern Gaza (Karni, Erez or a new crossing point), fully open Ashdod Port for aid delivery and increase screening capacity at Kerem Shalom and Nitzana to seven days a week and extended hours.