Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2020 to Question 13562 on Politics and Government, whether he has made an assessment of the adherence of the US Administration's framework for a Palestinian state to the statehood criteria of (a) ability to exercise effective control of territory and (b) independence in their external relations.

The United Kingdom supports Palestinians in realising self-determination through a negotiated settlement leading to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state. We hope that the US initiative may lead to a first step on the road back to negotiations. It is through such negotiations that the parties will determine the specifics of how the aim of two states is to be achieved.