Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help resolve the blockade of food and aid reaching Gaza.

The Foreign Secretary has raised the urgent need for restarting the flow of humanitarian aid with his Israeli counterpart repeatedly and will continue to make representations to the Government of Israel on this matter. We are constantly pressing Israel publicly and privately to allow the flow of aid into Gaza. On 23 April, we issued a statement, together with France and Germany, calling for Israel to immediately re-start a rapid and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, ensure aid workers are protected and urge all parties to return to a ceasefire with remaining hostages released. On 29 April, the UK made a statement to the UN Security Council where we shared our concerns about the dwindling supply of food, which leaves a million children at risk of starvation, disease and death.