PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Jerusalem: Palestinians (4 March 2019)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the (a) eviction of the Abu Assab family and (b) potential eviction of a further 200 Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem.

Asked by:
Marsha De Cordova (Labour)

​We continue to be gravely concerned by the impact of demolitions and evictions on ordinary Palestinians and the impact this has on the viability of a future Palestinian state. Our Ambassador to Israel raised our concerns about evictions in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem with the Israeli authorities on 29 January. Demolitions and evictions of Palestinians from their homes cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; call into question Israel's commitment to a viable two-state solution; and, in all but the most exceptional of cases, are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. We fund a number of projects to monitor and report on settlement expansion in East Jerusalem and the West Bank and to protect vulnerable Palestinian communities from the effects of settlement expansion.

Answered by:
Alistair Burt (Conservative)
12 March 2019