Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the number of Palestinian civilians, including children, killed in the Occupied Territories by Israeli Forces and by settlers, whether they will call on the government of Israel to review its policy on the use of lethal force and to eliminate all impunity for the use of excessive force.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK has repeatedly raised with the Israeli government our concerns about incidents of settler violence and intimidation, including the importance of the Israeli authorities bringing extremist settlers to justice and providing adequate protection for the Palestinian civilian population. Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv raised our concerns over the use of force, including lethal force, most recently on 19 November with the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs and Public Security. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv also raised the issue of force with the Head of the Civil Department of the Israeli Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Civil Department on 24 November, and the Israeli National Security Council on 18 November.