Helen Hayes

As I said, I agree that aid should be allowed into Gaza unfettered. That should be administered by the UN and by aid agencies that are well able to determine with Palestinians what supplies are needed. Does the Minister agree that it is unacceptable to deny the children of Gaza their right to education, and that it is vital that a way forward is found for education materials to be allowed into Gaza, along with supplies for psychosocial kits, so that children can begin the long process of recovery? Over the last two years, we have witnessed the destruction of the entire education system in Gaza—97% of all schools have sustained some level of damage. That is happening not only in Gaza, but in the west bank. I have stood in the ruins of two schools destroyed by violent settlers in the west bank. Those attacks have been perpetrated by a UN member state that has not yet signed the safe schools declaration, which has been signed by both the UK and the Palestinian Authority. On the eve of the fifth international conference on the safe schools declaration, which takes place in Nairobi tomorrow and marks 10 years since the declaration’s inception, I call on the Minister to exert pressure on the Israeli Government to join the declaration and commit to refrain from causing further damage to education facilities in Gaza and the west bank. Recovery is a long road, and the ceasefire is fragile. The process must start with the different parties coming together to protect education, to respect the rights of children and to ensure that there is unfettered access for all the supplies needed to sustain that recovery.