Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The UN assesses that the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is a protracted crisis with humanitarian consequences. UK aid is helping the Palestinian Authority to develop strong institutions, deliver essential public services and improve security.

DFID is providing £349 million in support of Palestinian development from 2011-15 and £72m for 2015/16. The UK was one of the biggest donors to the crisis last summer, providing more than £17 million in immediate humanitarian assistance for those caught up in the conflict. In October, the UK pledged a further £20 million in early recovery assistance at the Gaza Reconstruction Conference in Cairo.