Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he had with EU counterparts following the Israeli government's announcement of further settlement building on Palestinian land in the West Bank.

As the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) statement of 1 September made clear, the UK deplores Israel’s decision to expropriate 988 acres of land around the settlement of Etzion. Along with a number of EU counterparts, and the European External Action Service, the Foreign Secretary urged the Israeli authorities to reverse this decision. The UK closely coordinates on the issue of settlements with EU partners on which the UK, and EU’s, position is clear: they are illegal under international law, and an obstacle to the two state solution.