Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Israeli Government on conducting a criminal investigation into the alleged shooting by the Israeli Defence Force of a 9 year old Palestinian boy, Abd a-Rahman a-Shteiwi on 12 July 2019.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 2 October (PQ 291575). Our Embassy in Tel Aviv has raised the death of Abd a-Rahman with the Israeli authorities, stressing the importance of protecting civilians, especially children. The British Government is very concerned at the high numbers of Palestinian children killed and injured by Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank and Gaza. We have raised the issue of excessive use of force, including use of live ammunition with both the Office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and the Israeli Ministry of Defense. We will continue to encourage the Israeli authorities to carry out transparent investigations on the use of live fire.