Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the government of Israel’s policy on the expansion of existing settlements and the construction of new settlements and outposts in the occupied Palestinian territories.

We are clear that settlements are illegal under international law and threaten the viability of a two-state solution. The UK urges the Government of Israel to permanently end its settlement expansion and settlement activity in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Israeli outposts in the West Bank are also illegal under international and Israeli law, and should be removed entirely. I reinforced this message during a visit to a UK donor funded school facing demolition on 12 January, in Masafer Yatta.