Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the adherence by the Israeli Government to its legal responsibilities towards the populations of the occupied Palestinian Territories.

It has long been the government's view that Israel's presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is as an occupying power and therefore is governed by the provisions of the Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a state party. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and we have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation. We stress the importance of the Israeli security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population. It is vital that Israeli security operations all actions are proportionate, in line with international humanitarian law and calibrated to avoid civilian casualties. The Foreign Secretary along with the Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon frequently engages with Israelis and Palestinians on issues relating to the occupation. The Foreign Secretary most recently spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Cohen on 26 June.