Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the remarks by Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi, that Israeli plans to incorporate West Bank settlement blocs around Jerusalem into the city “could kill hopes for an independent Palestinian state".

The UK is gravely concerned about the Greater Jerusalem Bill and the proposals that it contains to incorporate West Bank settlement blocs within the municipal boundary of Jerusalem. If passed, this legislation could undermine prospects for a two-state solution. Our Ambassador to Tel Aviv raised our concerns about the Bill with the Israeli authorities on 26 October.