Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his polices of Israel Defence Forces reports of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s storage of weapons within civilian and religious sites in Jenin; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK is actively monitoring the security situation in Jenin. We unequivocally condemn the use and possession of indiscriminate weapons by militant groups in Jenin. The UK has proscribed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as a terrorist entity since March 2001. PIJ and other terrorist groups must cease their campaign of violence, for which there is no justification. Such activity compromises the region's security, its ability to prosper and escalates already high tensions, with consequences for the international community. The UK supports the Palestinian Authority's security jurisdiction in area 'A' of the West Bank, as agreed through the Oslo Accords. We call on the Palestinian Authority and Government of Israel to cooperate in securing the safety and protection of civilians across the West Bank.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussion with his counterparts at the Palestinian Authority on Israel Defence Force's reports of 300 Palestinian Islamic Jihad gunmen in Jenin.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK is actively monitoring the security situation in Jenin. We unequivocally condemn the use and possession of indiscriminate weapons by militant groups in Jenin. The UK has proscribed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as a terrorist entity since March 2001. PIJ and other terrorist groups must cease their campaign of violence, for which there is no justification. Such activity compromises the region's security, its ability to prosper and escalates already high tensions, with consequences for the international community. The UK supports the Palestinian Authority's security jurisdiction in area 'A' of the West Bank, as agreed through the Oslo Accords. We call on the Palestinian Authority and Government of Israel to cooperate in securing the safety and protection of civilians across the West Bank.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart about the terrorist attack in Tel Aviv on 4 July 2023.
Answered by David Rutley
During his call on 4 July with the Israeli chargé d'affaires in London, the Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon expressed his condolences over the terror attack that took place in Tel Aviv earlier that day. The Foreign Secretary also expressed his condolences about this terror attack when he spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on 5 July. We are appalled by terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens. There can be no justification for such acts of violence. Every Israeli and Palestinian has the right to live in peace and security. We understand and share the deep frustration on all sides at the lack of progress on the Middle East Peace Process. Ongoing violence underlines that a just and lasting resolution that ends the occupation and delivers peace for both Israelis and Palestinians is long overdue.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department provides funding to the Centre for Information Resilience.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The FCDO provides funding to the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR). We work with them on human rights and countering disinformation. They are experts on tracking disinformation narratives that our adversaries are using to undermine social cohesion and norms around the world, as well as using open-source investigation methods to identify and verify digital content showing abuse of human rights. Following the coup in Myanmar, we established and funded the Myanmar Witness programme, run by CIR, to collect and verify evidence of serious human rights violations and abuses. This evidence could be used in any future legal proceedings.