Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of allegations that (a) Hamas and (b) other terrorist and criminal groups have control over aid in Gaza.

We are aware of allegations from the Government of Israel that Hamas is using humanitarian aid for their own gain and have encouraged Israel to share any evidence of this with the UN/INGOs. We have not seen clear evidence of systematic aid diversion to Hamas, and given the ongoing hostilities in Gaza we are not able to verify allegations through direct monitoring. FCDO humanitarian programmes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories operate with enhanced sensitivity and additional safeguards to manage the risk of aid diversion. Our emergency humanitarian response is delivered through trusted, credible partners to minimise risk. These partners operate in line with humanitarian principles, including neutrality, and have demonstrated their ability to deliver aid to the most vulnerable in this challenging context. We remain in regular contact with partners regarding operational delivery, risk management and monitoring of delivery.