Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reported use in Israel of solitary confinement for children held in military detention.

Both the UN International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have told us that there has been a drastic decrease in the use of solitary confinement of children over the past year. Israeli officials tell us that solitary confinement does not take place, but that children are held in isolation during the time of their interrogation to avoid them from collaborating their stories. We are following up on this point and have asked for statistics on the use of isolation. We have raised concerns over solitary confinement with the Israeli authorities on many occasions, including with the Foreign Minister, Attorney General and National Security Adviser, and most recently with the Director of Human Rights.