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 2025 (HL12164), what progress they have made in securing unfettered and regular access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to detention facilities; what steps they have taken to this end; and what response has been received from the government of Israel.

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.