Written question asked by Kali Mountford (Labour) on Thursday, 8 February 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 20 February 2007. It was answered by Kim Howells (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 February 2007 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Middle East

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of progress with the Middle East peace process.

Answer: There have been positive developments on the peace process in recent months. Both parties are committed to negotiations and met bilaterally on 23 December and together with Secretary Rice yesterday. The ceasefire in Gaza between the parties is also still holding. But, there is much work to do to build confidence between the parties to reach substantive negotiations. We, along with the Quartet and international partners, will do all we can to help achieve this. We also welcome Saudi Arabia’s efforts to broker a National Unity Government through negotiations with Hamas and Fatah.

Secondary information