Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the accession of the Palestinian Authority to the International Criminal Court on the prospects for further negotiations between Israel and that Authority.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office judged that Palestinian attempts to seek International Criminal Court jurisdiction over the Occupied Territories would make a resumption of negotiations more difficult. It is now for the Court to make its own decisions relating to its jurisdiction, in accordance with the Rome Statute. Our priority remains achievement of a two-state solution. We continue to believe that the best way to achieve this, in reality and on the ground, is through negotiations, and encourage both parties to focus on steps that are conducive to peace.