Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with the government of Israel concerning the Palestinian children killed by live ammunition in 2014; and how many of the soldiers responsible have been charged.

We regularly raise the issue of excessive use of force with the Israeli government and security figures. Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv raised his concern over the high number of Palestinian civilian fatalities, including of children, with the Israeli Attorney General (AG) on 19 January. He said the UK wanted to see rigorous investigations into these incidents. Israeli authorities have told us that self-defence and a more challenging security environment were part of the explanation for the increase in fatalities. A number of investigations are pending. We are aware of one case - the Betunia case in which two Palestinian teenagers were shot on 15 May – in which the AG’s investigation had led to the prosecution of those responsible. We continue to monitor developments in this and other cases.