Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make representations to her counterpart in the Israeli government to allow building materials to enter Gaza for the rebuilding of homes; and if she will make funding available towards the rebuilding of homes in Gaza.

We welcome the mechanism agreed by Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the UN to facilitate the import of construction materials. This is an important first step. Reconstruction will require a durable ceasefire, an agreed approach on security, predictable and sustained access for people and goods into and out of Gaza, and good governance arrangements. Only then will donors have the assurances they need to be able to support the reconstruction effort.