Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure a ceasefire between Israel and Islamic Jihad lasts.

We continue to closely monitor the security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). The Foreign Secretary said in his 14 May statement that the UK welcomes the announcement of this Egyptian-brokered ceasefire and will support efforts to promote dialogue and create a pathway towards sustainable peace. The UK has proscribed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as a terrorist entity since March 2001 and as such does not engage with members of its organisation. PIJ and other terrorist groups must cease all actions that are violent or provocative, or that put civilian lives at risk. The Foreign Secretary wrote to Israeli Foreign Minister Cohen on 10 May to reiterate the UK's support for Israel's right to self-defence and to encourage the facilitation of humanitarian access to Gaza.