Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his letter dated 9 July to the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, FCDO reference MC2021/03479, for what reasons Officials from the British Embassy in Tel Aviv did not raise the issue of human rights with the Israeli Ministry of Justice at the time of the Israeli efforts to evict Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in May 2021; and if he will make a statement.

We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation. The UK regularly raises the issue of forced evictions from their homes, including in Sheikh Jarrah, with the Government of Israel, most recently with the Ministry of Justice on 12 July. On 8 May I publicly expressed concern over tensions in Jerusalem linked to the threatened eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. We monitor the situation in East Jerusalem closely, and officials regularly visit areas at risk of demolition and eviction and attend related court hearings.