Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle settler violence in the West Bank.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Settler violence is unacceptable, and settlements are illegal under international law. The Foreign Secretary has been clear with Israeli ministers that they must clamp down on settler violence and end settler expansion and has previously met with Palestinian communities in the West Bank to hear how they are affected. On 15 October 2024, the Foreign Secretary announced 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. As I reiterated in the House on 29 April, we call for an end to settlement expansion and settler violence.