Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he last made representations to the Government of Israel on the reports of ill-treatment of Palestinian minors and Palestinian human rights defenders in Israeli military detention.

We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation, including the treatment of Palestinian children. We continue to stress the importance of the Israeli security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population, in particular the need to protect children. We remain concerned about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary rather than as routine practice and as a preventive rather than a punitive measure. We remain committed to working with Israel to secure improvements to the practices surrounding children in detention.

The UK is aware of the challenges facing human rights defenders (HRDs) and organisations operating in Israel and the OPTs.

The UK continues to urge the Israeli Government to respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of Human Rights Defenders (HFDs), of which the FCDO is a fervent champion everywhere. We have been clear that a strong, vibrant civil society is in Israel's own interest and have raised concerns with the Palestinian Authority about the treatment of HRDs in the West Bank. Officials from the British Embassy in Tel Aviv last raised the issue of HRDs on 23 February with the Israeli Ministry of Justice.