Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Palestinian Authority on recent attacks on Israel by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

We closely monitor the security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). The UK has proscribed the organisation known as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as a terrorist entity since March 2001. PIJ and other terrorist groups must cease all actions that are violent or provocative, or that put civilian lives at risk. The Minister for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon last met with Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki on 5 May, before the recent outbreak of violence. As the Foreign Secretary said in his 14 May statement, we welcome the current Egyptian-brokered ceasefire and urge all sides to de-escalate tensions.