Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 21 January (HL12583), what representations they have made to the Palestinian Authority about (1) its responsibility to pay for the medical care of patients from Gaza treated in Israel, and (2) the limitations it has placed on exit permits for patients from Gaza to receive medical treatment in Israel.

The UK continually monitors the humanitarian context in Gaza, including in the health sector, and we remain deeply concerned about restrictions on movement and access and the impact that this is having on the wounded and critically ill. Officials raised Palestinian Authority (PA) funding of health referrals for patients from Gaza to Israel in a meeting with the Minister for Health in June 2018 and continue to do as part of broader engagement with the PA on their obligations in Gaza. We have not received reports of the PA restricting Gazan exit permits but are looking into this issue.