Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the new Israel Defence Forces rules of engagement with Palestinian stone-throwers, and the Israeli sentencing policy towards those individuals.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of press reports of changes to Israel Defence Forces Rules of Engagement. We are also aware of changes to sentencing policy. Like all countries, Israel has a right to defend its citizens from attack and to hold perpetrators of attacks to account. We nevertheless regularly raise with Israel concerns over the use of force, including lethal force, by Israeli security authorities. Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv did this most recently on 4 November with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Envoy on the Peace Process, Isaac Molho, stressing the need for proportionality and proper accountability.