Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the recent shooting of the unarmed child, Abd el-Rahman Shatawi, in Kafr Qaddum; and what information he has received on that shooting.

Whilst we have not raised this specific case with the Israeli authorities, the Government is very concerned at the high numbers of Palestinian children killed and injured by Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank and Gaza. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have raised the issue of excessive use of force, including use of live ammunition, causing deaths and injuries to Palestinians in the West Bank with both the Office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and the Israeli Ministry of Defense.