Written questions by Ward.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what consideration she has given to appointing a new British ambassador to Syria.

Awaiting answer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the UK is taking to support the International Criminal Court.

Awaiting answer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Israeli counterpart on access to Gaza for a) Palestinian doctors and b) international doctors.

I refer the Hon Member to the statement to the House I made on 5 January, and to the joint statement issued by the Foreign Secretary and several of her counterparts on 30 December, available on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jointstatementon-the-gaza-humanitarian-response.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Israeli counterpart on the opening of a humanitarian corridor between Gaza and the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

I refer the Hon Member to the statement to the House I made on 5 January, and to the joint statement issued by the Foreign Secretary and several of her counterparts on 30 December, available on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jointstatementon-the-gaza-humanitarian-response.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's Mass Atrocity Prevention Hub for supporting the UK’s response to the situation in El Fasher, Darfur.

The Mass Atrocity Hub is now part of The Conflict and Atrocity Prevention Department, which has been working closely with the Africa Directorate and British Office Sudan since April 2023. Support has included assessing the risk of atrocities in Sudan, providing analytical capabilities to collect, verify and preserve open-source data relating to potential atrocity crimes and violations of international humanitarian law, as well as technical advisory support on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's atrocity prevention and response workstreams.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on restarting civil-military cooperation with UNRWA.

The UK has repeatedly set out our grave concern about the Government of Israel's legislation on the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and our support for UNRWA's vital work to provide essential services and humanitarian assistance in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. On 31 January, together with France and Germany, we shared our grave concern regarding the Government of Israel's implementation of UNRWA legislation and called on Israel to abide by its international obligations and responsibility to ensure full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance and the provision of basic services to the civilian population. The Foreign Secretary continues to raise these issues with Israeli counterparts and discussed this with the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, on 14 March.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Israel on the arrest and detention of (a) Mahmoud Muna and (b) Ahmad Muna.

We are concerned by reports of the detention of Mahmoud and Ahmad Muna by the Israeli authorities. Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv, and the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, tweeted to express concern at the police raid, and to reiterate our support for freedom of expression as a fundamental right. We continue to call on Israeli authorities to exercise restraint and adhere to international law.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Israeli government on the attack on Balata refugee camp in December 2024.

The Foreign Secretary has regularly raised issues of International Humanitarian Law compliance with the Israeli Government. Stability in the West Bank is crucial to ensure that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza can last. All sides should work to ensure a lowering of tension in the West Bank at this time. The ceasefire marks the first step in ensuring long-term peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians, and the wider region, bringing much-needed stability. Our attention must turn to how we secure a permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people - grounded in a two-state solution that will guarantee security and stability for Israel, alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine state.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to support a cessation of military action in the north of Gaza.

The Foreign Secretary spoke to his Israeli counterpart most recently on 27 October, and reiterated that Israel must do much more to bring about an end to hostilities and get aid into Gaza. A political resolution has been a priority of this Government sinc...

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Israeli legislation in relation to UNRWA on (a) his Department’s policies and (b) the provision of UK aid to the Occupi

The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have expressed serious concern at the UNRWA bills that Israel's Knesset has now passed. This legislation risks making UNRWA's essential work for Palestinians impossible, jeopardising the entire international humani...

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the possibility of arms supplied from the UK to Israel being used to be used to (a) commit and (b) facilitate serious violations of Inter

The UK's robust export licensing criteria state that the Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law. Following the Government...

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to develop a new national strategy on atrocity prevention

The FCDO supports a comprehensive approach to mass atrocity prevention. However, we have no plans to develop a new national strategy at this time. Since 2022, the FCDO's conflict directorate has been strengthening monitoring capabilities to identify and e...

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many British-registered charities working in Gaza have experienced (a) staff or volunteers being (i) killed and (ii) injured and (b) buildings or other infrastructure being destroyed or damaged in Gaza in the last 10 months; and how many (A) staff have been (1) killed and (2) injured and (B) incidents there have been of buildings being destroyed or damaged in Gaza in the last 10 months, by each registered charity.

The UK Government does not hold this data directly. However, we are extremely concerned about the number of casualties amongst the humanitarian sector community, including our own UK nationals. International Humanitarian Law provides for the protection of non-combatants. Whilst in Israel, the Foreign Secretary pressed Prime Minister Netanyahu to implement improved deconfliction processes to protect aid workers. I will continue to raise with my Israeli counterparts the incidents that affect the delivery of vital humanitarian work.Israel must take concrete steps to protect civilians and aid workers in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. This includes deconfliction between military and humanitarian operations, and supporting the minimum operating requirements of the UN agencies. The World Central Kitchen (WCK) deaths on 2 April, including the death of three British Nationals, were an appalling example of Israel's failure to provide an effective deconfliction mechanism to keep humanitarian operations safe from military operations.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish risk assessments of the likelihood of atrocity crimes being committed in Gaza and the West Bank that his Department has made in the last 10 months.

It is our policy that any FCDO monitoring and assessment of atrocity risks is confidential and therefore we have no plans to publish. However, we continue to monitor risks closely and will continue to update the House on the ongoing situation in Gaza. We do not have access to the advice provided to the previous Government.