Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the importance to a sustainable economy in Gaza of the re-opening of (a) Gaza airport and (b) the sea-port.

An airport or seaport could help to facilitate trade but the extent of their importance would depend on the lifting of restrictions on exports and transfers to Gaza’s natural markets of Israel and the West Bank. We have consistently called on the Government of Israel to improve movement and access into and out of Gaza, and will continue to do so.