Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the likelihood of use by Israeli forces of equipment containing UK components in breaches of international humanitarian law in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We reviewed all existing export licences to Israel during Operation Protective Edge. We found that the vast majority of exports currently licensed for Israel were not for items that could be used by Israeli forces in operations in Gaza in response to attacks by Hamas.
On 12 August, the Government announced that twelve licences were identified for components which could be part of equipment used by the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza. As we were unable to clarify whether export licence criteria was being met, we took the decision to suspend this small number of export licences if there was a resumption of significant hostilities.
We monitored the situation closely and assessed that the resumption of hostilities when Hamas later broke the ceasefire was not enough to warrant a suspension.
Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the killing of two Palestinian teenagers at Ofer on 15 May 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Hugh Robertson
Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised the use of lethal force in this case with both the Israel Defence Force and the Israeli Border Police on 16 May.
On 21 May, the local EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah issued a local statement expressing deep concern about the deaths of two Palestinian youths on 15 May in the West Bank and emphasising the importance of such incidents being investigated thoroughly. They reiterated the need for security forces, whether Israeli or Palestinian, to refrain from the use of lethal force, except in cases where there is a real and imminent threat to life.