Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 21 December (HL4170), what action they intend to take to protect the rights of Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

The Government will continue to make clear our serious concerns about the situation in East Jerusalem to the Israeli authorities and the Municipality of Jerusalem. The UK also supports the rights of Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem facing demolition or eviction through our funding to the Norwegian Refugee Council legal aid programme. This helps residents to challenge decisions in the Israeli legal system. We also remain deeply concerned about restrictions on freedom of movement to and from East Jerusalem. Through our Embassy in Tel Aviv we have lobbied the appropriate authorities on the issue of movement and access and continue to call on Israel to ease restrictions on access.