Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Palestinian Authority on the recent violence in Israel and the West Bank.

Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government, urging them to use their influence to de-escalate the tensions. The most recent discussion with the Palestinian Authority was on 9 October when the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) spoke to President Abbas about the violence. On 8 October, our Consul General in Jerusalem raised our concerns in his meetings with President Abbas’ political adviser, Majdi Khaldi; Palestinian chief negotiator and Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, Sa’eb Erekat; and the Palestinian Chief of Police, Hazem Attallah.