Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 19 December (HL12164), what specific progress they have made in providing support through the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative to strengthen the prevention, documentation, and investigation of sexual violence in detention settings in Israel; what concrete assistance they have offered or delivered; and what measurable outcomes have been achieved.

The UK is deeply concerned by reports of mistreatment of Palestinian detainees by Israeli forces, including reports of sexual violence, and we have raised this issue with the Israeli government. The UK has been consistently clear that all detainees must be treated with dignity and in full accordance with international law, and that such allegations must be thoroughly investigated.

The UK supports the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as the only organisation with the mandate, independence, and expertise to advocate for the humane treatment of detainees. Regular access to detainees is essential for the ICRC to fulfil its role, as enshrined in the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The UK continues to call on the Government of Israel to grant the ICRC immediate and unrestricted access to all detention facilities.