Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 28 January (HL12814), what improvements they hope to see in the conditions in Gaza in the next five years.

Within the next five years the UK Government hopes to see an improvement in access to clean water, energy and jobs in Gaza. We would also like to see all parties ease movement and access restrictions. This would make it easier for Gazans to sell their goods to Israel and other countries in the region; and for small businesses to grow and create jobs. DFID's new economic development programme will support all these activities.

However, we are clear that a durable agreement is needed to address the underlying causes of the conflict and to transform the situation in Gaza. This is why the UK continues to support progress towards a two-state solution that permanently ends the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Such an agreement should ensure that Hamas and other terrorist groups permanently end rocket fire and attacks against Israel and accept the Quartet Principles; the Palestinian Authority resumes control in Gaza and restores effective and accountable governance; and that Israel lifts its restrictions to ease the suffering of ordinary Palestinians and allow the Gazan economy to grow.