West Bank: Violence
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of reports of alleged settler violence in the village of Umm al-Khair in the southern West Bank.
Answered by Mr Hamish Falconer
As the Prime Minister said in the House on 22 January, we are deeply concerned by events in the West Bank. We have raised this several times in exchanges that we have had with Israel at both ministerial and official level. It is in no one's interest for further conflict and instability to spread in the West Bank. We are clear that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and harm prospects for a two-state solution. The UK strongly condemns settler violence and provocative remarks. On 15 October, the Foreign Secretary announced new sanctions targeting three illegal settler outposts and four organisations that have supported and sponsored violence against communities in the West Bank. These measures will help bring accountability to those who have supported and perpetrated such heinous abuses of human rights.
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