Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government has taken steps in response to the case of the Palestinian Sumarin Family in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan.

The UK Government raises the issue of demolitions, confiscations and forced evictions of Palestinians from their homes with the Government of Israel. Our British Embassy Tel Aviv did most recently with Israel's Ministry of Defence on 20 January and Ministry of Justice on 27 January. Such evictions cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; and, in all but the most exceptional of cases, are contrary to International Humanitarian Law.