Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the (a) Palestinian Authority and (b) Israeli government on recent violent attacks in that region.

We are deeply concerned by the recent violence across the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. We strongly condemn all acts of violence and all incitement to commit acts of violence.

Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government, urging them to use their influence to de-escalate the tensions.

The most recent discussion with the Palestinian Authority was on 9 October when the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) spoke to President Abbas about the violence. On 8 October, our Consul General in Jerusalem raised our concerns in his meetings with President Abbas’ political adviser, Majdi Khaldi; Palestinian chief negotiator and Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, Sa’eb Erekat; and the Palestinian Chief of Police, Hazem Attallah.

The most recent discussion with the Israeli government was on 19 October when Her Majesty’s Ambassador in Tel Aviv raised our concerns with Israel Cabinet Secretary, Avichai Mandleblit. On 16 October, the Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser, Mark Lyall Grant, spoke to Israel’s National Security Adviser, Yossi Cohen, and reiterated the need for both sides to do everything in their power to calm the situation.