Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement by the Palestinian Returns Centre to the UNHRC on 9 March about reports that Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank have been arrested by Israeli authorities under the pretext of illegal communication with foreign enemies when contacting friends and family abroad.

We have not made such an assessment. However we remain concerned about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary rather than as routine practice and as a preventive rather than a punitive measure. We continue to call on the Israeli authorities to comply with their obligations under international law and either charge or release detainees.