Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what humanitarian support her Department is helping to provide for displaced families in Gaza affected by severe weather.

The Hon Member is right to raise concerns about the impact of worsening weather conditions on the already appalling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the UK Government is doing all that we can alongside our international and civil society partners to alleviate that crisis.

Earlier this month, the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched a new appeal to help support vulnerable families over the winter months, and warned of a dire shortage of shelter and essential items that means children are facing cold nighttime temperatures without warm clothes or blankets, a situation exacerbated by severe flooding in many areas of Gaza, and the increased risk of waterborne diseases due to severely damaged water and sewage infrastructure.

The UK Government has agreed to match donations to the DEC appeal up to £3 million, with the Foreign Secretary stating in her announcement that: "The situation in Gaza remains critical, with winter weather taking conditions from bad to worse. Innocent families are facing icy winds and biting rain, forced to live in exposed conditions. We must act now to get vital winter aid to those that need it."

Earlier this month UK-funded tents entered Gaza after months stuck at the border, to provide urgent shelter for families which are desperately needed now that winter has arrived. We are continuing to urge the Israeli authorities to open all crossings and routes, and lift all restrictions so that the UN and other humanitarian relief agencies can get supplies of shelter kits, medicine, food, and other essentials into Gaza at the volume and pace required to meet the scale and urgency of this crisis.