Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken with international partners to encourage international humanitarian access to Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The UK has called for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to be granted unfettered and immediate access to the hostages in Gaza and Palestinian detainees to deliver on their independent visiting role, as enshrined within the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The UK reaffirms our support for the ICRC as the only humanitarian actor with the experience, capability, independence, and mandate to carry out their important responsibilities. As the Prime Minister said on 21 July, the UK demands an immediate ceasefire to stop the slaughter, that the UN be allowed to send humanitarian assistance into Gaza on a continuing basis to prevent starvation, and the immediate release of the hostages.