Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for International Development, Mr Desmond Swayne on 10 February (HC25684) on recent demolitions by the Israeli authorities of properties funded by the EU and international donors, what action they intend to take in response.

Baroness Verma

We have discussed the recent demolitions in South Hebron with our EU counterparts. The EU is proposing to reassess their position on seeking compensation from the Israeli Government in the context of the ongoing structured dialogue. The UK government remains extremely concerned by reports that there have been nearly 300 demolitions since the start of 2016, representing more than a trebling of demolitions compared to the monthly average in 2015. The Embassy in Tel Aviv have recently raised demolitions with the Israeli authorities and will continue to raise this at the political level.