The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office were informed of the deaths of 15 British nationals killed in the terrorist attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023.

We do not have details on how many of the victims were dual nationals.

The Government continues to be appalled by the reports of conflict-related sexual violence committed by Hamas on 7 October and against hostages, including the report from UN Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten. The UK condemns sexual violence unequivocally and without exception. Hamas must release all hostages and all reports of sexual violence must be fully investigated to ensure justice for survivors and victims. The UK has been working with partners across the region to secure the release of hostages, including British nationals and their families.

In 2024/2025, UK ODA to Sudan will nearly double to £89 million. This includes funding to UNICEF, providing emergency, life-saving food assistance to support people particularly in hard-to reach areas; and the World Food Programme food commodities including cereals, pulses, oils and salt.

The UK uses its position as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and penholder on Sudan to take action to bring an end to the conflict and atrocities in the country. There is a UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur, which the UN renewed in March 2023. There is also a longstanding bilateral UK arms embargo in place for the whole of Sudan. In our engagement with international partners, the UK continues to emphasise the importance of refraining from actions that prolong the conflict. On 15 April, a year after the outbreak of conflict in Sudan, the UK imposed new sanctions targeting three businesses linked with the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support forces.

Hamas is putting Palestinian civilians at grave risk by embedding themselves in the civilian population and civilian infrastructure. The UK is aware of reports of Hamas using healthcare facilities and other infrastructure, such as schools, as bases and command nodes.

All parties must act in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. Care must be taken to limit operations to military targets and to minimise harm to civilians and civilian objects.

The UK supports multilateral institutions by providing both core and non-core project funding to help tackle complex governance challenges in developing countries. For example, we provide funding to UN agencies, including UNDP, to promote inclusive, effective and accountable governance. The UK funds the World Bank, IMF and OECD to deliver capacity building on tax and public financial management, including supporting the flagship "Tax Inspectors Without Borders" partnership between the OECD and the UN. Last month the UK announced £2 million new funding to World Bank and IMF Trust funds focused on supporting developing countries build stronger systems to tackle corruption and illicit finance issues. The UK has consistently championed delivering good governance outcomes across the multilateral system, including by playing a leading role to champion and shape SDG 16 that provides the overarching international framework for this.

We trebled our aid commitment in the last financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air.

As of 9 May, the UK has participated in 12 airdrops into Gaza, and on 17 April we announced £3 million of additional funding for equipment to support UN and aid agencies to get more aid into Gaza, including trucks, forklifts, generators, fuel stores and lighting towers.

On 6 April, the UK announced a £9.7 million package of military and civilian support to set up a maritime aid corridor to Gaza, including the deployment of a Navy ship.

In addition, a field hospital, provided by UK Aid funding to UK-Med, is up and running in Gaza and has already treated thousands of patients, and we have funded more than 2,000 tonnes of food aid, which entered Gaza in March for distribution by the World Food Programme (WFP) on the ground.

Updates on the number of aid trucks and type of aid entering Gaza are published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on their publicly available aid dashboard at gazadashboard.unrwa.org. Between 2 November and 2 May 24,390 trucks entered Gaza. It remains challenging to track deliveries by weight and origin.

The UK is working with a range of partners to end hostilities, allow safe, unhindered humanitarian access and ensure the protection of civilians. Foreign Office Ministers are in regular contact with international partners on Sudan. The Deputy Foreign Secretary discussed Sudan with USAID Administrator Samantha Power on 29 January 2024. Lord Benyon spoke to US and French colleagues at the Paris Humanitarian Conference on 15 April 2024. The UK Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and Red Sea also regularly engages with her American and French counterparts.

We continue to call for International Humanitarian Law to be respected and civilians to be protected.

We have one of the most robust arms export systems in the world, enshrined in law through the Export Control Act, and implemented through our Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. The Foreign Secretary has reviewed the most recent advice about the situation in Gaza and Israel, and his latest assessment leaves our position on export licences unchanged. We will keep the position under review.

Hamas, along with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), are already sanctioned by the UK in their entirety and are subject to an asset freeze and arms embargo. The UK, working closely with the US and other allies, has imposed several new rounds of coordinated sanctions against Hamas since 7 October, to disrupt the terrorist group's financial networks and cut off their access to funding.

Five entities connected to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been sanctioned under the UK Sudan sanctions regime. We do not speculate on future designations as it would reduce their impact. However, our sanctions policy is continually under review.

The UK is concerned by intensification of fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its humanitarian consequences. We continue to urge all parties to deliver on their commitments, agreed through regional peace processes. We welcome the recent mediation efforts facilitated by the Angola-led Luanda peace process and continue to urge all parties to commit to further political dialogue. In March, Lord Benyon travelled to Kinshasa where he met with a range of representatives of the Government of DRC, including President Tshisekedi, to underline our support for the regional mediation efforts. Lord Benyon was also in Angola last month and discussed the conflict in eastern DRC with President Lourenco.

The UK is proud to have led efforts in the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) last year to establish the independent and international Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan (FFM). We fully support the FFM's mandate to ensure credible allegations of human rights violations and abuses in Sudan will be investigated impartially. We are concerned about the impact of the ongoing UN liquidity crisis on its work, and accordingly will support an extension to its mandate to ensure it is given the necessary time, resources and access. We will continue to engage States, including African States who are members of the HRC, on the continued need for and importance of the FFM.

We are clear that we would not support a major operation in Rafah unless there is a very clear plan for how to protect people and save lives. We have not seen that plan so, in these circumstances, we would not support a major operation in Rafah.

To recognise the work that is being done to support resilience building in the most climate-vulnerable countries a fixed proportion of 30 per cent International Climate Finance will be applied to programmes delivering and supporting humanitarian work being done in countries that fall into the bottom 10 per cent in terms of recognised climate vulnerability rankings, including Afghanistan.

The UK believes that the economic reforms agreed to by the Zimbabwean Government as part of the arrears clearance dialogue remain essential for improving Zimbabwe's long term economic trajectory. The UK is therefore engaging constructively on the Zimbabwe arrears clearance dialogue led by African Development Bank President Adesina and former Mozambican President Chissano. I (Deputy Foreign Minister) recently met Zimbabwe Finance Minister Ncube at the World Bank Spring Meetings to discuss the dialogue. I also regularly speak to a range of ministers and experts across Southern Africa on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe and in Southern Africa, where we continue to provide support following the recent declaration of drought, including through Africa Risk Capacity, a UK-supported African Union-led disaster risk insurance mechanism.

Attacks by extremists on aid convoys en route to Gaza are appalling. Gazans are at risk of famine and in desperate need of supplies. Israel must facilitate immediate, uninterrupted humanitarian access in Gaza, and hold attackers to account. Aid will not make a difference unless it can be properly and safely distributed. Guaranteed deconfliction for aid convoys and other humanitarian work is essential. The Foreign Secretary raised his concerns with Israeli Minister Gantz on 16 May.

We are in contact with the local authorities following the armed attacks in Kinshasa. We advise all British nationals to follow our travel advice. British Nationals in DRC who require urgent help should call the British Embassy Kinshasa on +243 81 556 6200.  Anyone in the UK who may be concerned about relatives or friends should call the FCDO on 020 7008 5000.

The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord Ahmad, met with the Commissioner General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, on 4 April and the Deputy Foreign Secretary spoke with the Commissioner General on 5 March.

They discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the steps UNRWA is taking in response to the Colonna report on UNRWA's mechanisms and processes to ensure neutrality. Ministers explained that the UK will set out its position on future funding to UNRWA following careful consideration of Catherine Colonna's final report, UNRWA's response and the ongoing UN Office for Internal Oversight Services investigation into these allegations.

The UK continues to pay close attention to developments in Mozambique, including the recent attacks, and is monitoring with partners the impact of these attacks on the civilian population and on the delivery of UK priorities. UK funding is supporting humanitarian assistance for those displaced from Macomia and across the north, alongside longer-term support. In May 2023, the Deputy Foreign Secretary met President Nyusi and discussed UK support for the Government of Mozambique's response to the insurgency, including new programmes on peacebuilding and resilience to violent extremism, increased humanitarian support and military capacity-building. MOD will begin a next round of training of Mozambique's Armed Forces in June, with over 200 members already trained in human rights.