Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the arrest of 15-year-old Muhammad Tamimi in a night raid on Monday 26 February in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, if he will make representations to his Israeli counterpart to raise this case and (a) seek a formal response explaining the Israeli Government’s reasoning and actions and (b) call on the Israeli Government to uphold its obligations to implement the (i) protections and (ii) due process that children are entitled to under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; and if he will make a statement.

​We are following this case closely and our Embassy in Tel Aviv will raise this case with the relevant Israeli authorities. The issue of children in detention remains a human rights priority for the Government. We remain concerned in particular about continued reports of ill-treatment of Palestinian minors in Israeli military detention. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a State Party, clearly sets out the need to grant special care and protection to children and we have repeatedly and publicly called on Israel to fulfil its international legal obligations in this regard.We are following this case closely and our Embassy in Tel Aviv will raise this case with the relevant Israeli authorities. This issue of children in detention remains a human rights priority for this Government, and the UK remains concerned in particular about continued reports of ill-treatment of Palestinian minors in Israeli military detention. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a State Party, clearly sets out the need to grant special care and protection to children. We have repeatedly and publicly called on Israel to fulfil its international legal obligations in this regard.