West Bank: Violence
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the reported (a) use of violence and (b) detention of Palestinian land owners in the West Bank by Israeli (i) settlers and (ii) soldiers.
Answered by Mr Hamish Falconer
The UK's position is clear. Settlements are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace, and threaten the physical viability of a two-state solution. We recognise settlements have reached record levels in the past year and there has been an increase in settler violence. We urge Israel to take greater action to hold violent settlers to account. The UK strongly condemns settler violence and provocative remarks such as those made by Israel's National Security Minister Ben-Gvir which threaten the status quo of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem. The UK has sanctioned eight people and two entities responsible for perpetrating, inciting, and promoting human rights abuses against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. We keep all these issues under review and we discuss them with our closest allies.
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