Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Israel with regard to continued illegal construction in settlements and outposts across the West Bank.

We regularly raise our grave concerns on this issue and strongly urge the Government of Israel to reverse its policy of settlement expansion. The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) and the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) both expressed strong concerns about settlement activity when they met Prime Minister Netanyahu in London on Monday 6 February. The Foreign Secretary reiterated the UK’s support for a two-state solution and our concerns about settlement activity to Prime Minister Netanyahu during his visit to Israel on 8 March. Since January 2017, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) has issued three statements condemning Israeli government plans to build over 6,000 settlement units in the West Bank including East Jerusalem. He also issued a further statement on 3 February condemning the passage of the Land Regularisation Bill, which seeks to retroactively legalise outposts.