Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ask the government of Israel (1) to freeze settlement building in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, (2) to enable the development of Palestinian-owned land in Area C, and (3) to increase trade and employment; and what plans they have to ask the Palestinian Authority to respond with confidence-building measures.

The UK regularly calls on Israel to end illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank and closely monitors reports of further settlement advancements. We also call bilaterally, and in international fora, for Israel to provide a clear, transparent route to construction for Palestinians in Area C.

We continue to stress to the Israeli authorities the damage that their restrictions on movement, access and trade are doing to the living standards of ordinary Palestinians.