Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to his Department's Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority (PA), what discussions his Department has had with the PA on reports that the PA President's spokesperson describing convicted Palestinian terrorists as soldiers who act on their behalf and receive orders from them.

The UK strongly condemns all forms of violence and incitement on both sides of the conflict. We continue to urge the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to avoid engaging in or encouraging any type of action and language that makes it more difficult to achieve a negotiated solution to the conflict. Officials are looking into the specific allegation raised.

Our partnership with the Palestinian Authority (PA) includes a commitment from the Palestinian leadership to adhere to the principle of non-violence and to tackle language and avoid actions that could incite violence or hatred. The March 2019 assessment of the terms of the 2018-19 Memorandum of Understanding found that the PA continues to demonstrate a credible commitment to DFID’s ‘partnership principles’, including the principles of non-violence, under increasingly volatile conditions. As in other parts of the world where DFID works, this does not mean that we agree on all of the government or authority’s policies or actions – but rather that there is a credible foundation on which to work to tackle poverty and work towards the Sustainable Development Goals. We continue to press the Palestinian Authority to reform the prisoner payments system, as I did so personally during my recent visit in Ramallah.