Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to support de-escalation of violence against Palestinian and Israeli civilians.

We continue to closely monitor the security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). The Foreign Secretary issued a press statement on April 7 condemning violence at Jerusalem's holy sites. In a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on 21 March he re-stated the UK's opposition to settlements, demolitions, and evictions. This followed a phone call with Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Malki on 7 March in which he made clear his expectation that the Palestinian Authority will call on Palestinians to refrain from violence. British diplomats in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem raise these issues with the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, respectively, on a regular basis, and we regularly raise these issues in international fora.