Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of Israel’s closure of the Erez crossing since 7 October 2023 on cancer patients in Gaza.

Hospitals in the Occupied Palestinian Territories must be allowed to operate safely and treat the vulnerable. We urge access into and out of Gaza and the West Bank for humanitarian actors, reconstruction materials and those, including Palestinians, travelling for medical purposes. The wounded and critically ill in Gaza and the West Bank should be able to access the urgent medical care they need. The UK Government welcomes any effort to cooperate between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, including in the healthcare sector. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary will continue to engage regularly and closely with their Israeli counterparts on this issue.