To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the safe evacuation of British nationals who are facing challenges trying to leave Gaza.
Answered on
27 November 2023
As the Prime Minister and former Foreign Secretary have said, the safety of British nationals remains our top priority. We are working with the Egyptian and Israeli authorities round the clock to ensure our British nationals can leave Gaza as soon as possible. The UK is supportive of limited and temporary cessations of hostilities as part of measures to facilitate the flow of life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza. It is crucial that we capitalise on the hostage deal to allow as much food, water, medical supplies and fuel as possible to reach vulnerable civilians in Gaza. This pause should act as a confidence-building mechanism for future pauses, including those solely on humanitarian grounds. The UK has a team at the Rafah crossing to ensure we can provide the necessary consular and administrative support needed to British nationals when they cross. We are providing support for British nationals to get from Rafah to Cairo, where we have set up a reception centre and have arranged temporary accommodation. Additional Consular and Border Force staff are in country to support this work, as is an FCDO Rapid Deployment Team and a team of British Red Cross psychological support experts. More than 150 British nationals and their dependants have left Gaza so far, this is well over half of those who registered with the FCDO initially.