Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the government of Israel about the repeated arrests of the Palestinian Authority Governor of East Jerusalem and reports of beatings and maltreatment of another Palestinian Authority official.

While we have not made representations on the arrests of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Governor of East Jerusalem, the British Consul General in Jerusalem, alongside a number of other representatives, met the PA Minister for Jerusalem Affairs by videoconference on 7 April. They expressed concern at the 3 April raid by Israeli police on his home, his detention and questioning about his work to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in East Jerusalem. 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.