Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last discussed (a) Gaza and (b) Israeli settlements with his colleagues in the EU; and what the outcome of those discussions was on each such topic.

The Foreign Affairs Council met on 18 May. The Middle East Peace Process was one of the subjects on the agenda and both Gaza and settlements were discussed. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) argued that improving the situation in Gaza, as well as action to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution, needed to be the immediate focus of the EU’s attention.