Gaza: Israel

(asked on 19th December 2023) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by Human Rights Watch entitled Israel: Starvation Used as Weapon of War in Gaza, published on 18 December 2023.


Answered by
Andrew Mitchell Portrait
Andrew Mitchell
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
This question was answered on 16th January 2024

The FCDO is aware of this report. We support Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas, but it must comply with International Humanitarian Law; we keep under continuous review whether they are abiding by their obligations. The Prime Minister has made this clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu repeatedly and has been in close contact throughout. We recognise that there is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza. We have trebled our aid commitment this financial year and are doing everything we can to get more aid in and open more crossings. We have also supported the United Nations World Food Programme to deliver a new humanitarian land corridor from Jordan into Gaza, with 750 metric tons of life-saving food aid arriving in the first delivery. Israel must also take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more aid routes into Gaza and restoring and sustaining water, fuel and electricity.

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