Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report by Amnesty International <i>Families Under the Rubble</i>, what steps they intend to take to ensure that Israel is held accountable for human rights violations carried out during Operation Protective Edge.

There must be a robust process of accountability given the heavy civilian death toll in Gaza. Israel has confirmed plans to form their own investigative committee which we understand will be mandated to investigate the proportionality of Israel Defence Forces actions. To be credible, the committee must be independent, transparent and rigorous, and must draw on lessons from the past to examine how Israel can in future exercise its right to self-defence without such heavy civilian loss of life. We are also calling on all sides to cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council, which must itself be independent and balanced in its approach.