Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the plan submitted by the Palestinian Prime Minister to the United States, Russia, EU and United Nations on 9 June; and, following the remarks by the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa on 11 May (HC Deb, col 20), what steps they are taking to prevent the annexation by the government of Israel of parts of the West Bank.

We welcome the proposals that the Palestinian Authority has made for renewed dialogue. We urge the parties to find a means of restarting negotiations, and avoiding unilateral action. The Foreign Secretary made clear our concerns about reports that the new Israeli Government coalition has reached an agreement, which may pave the way for annexation of parts of the West Bank, during a call with the Israeli Alternate Prime Minister Gantz on 20 May and Foreign Minister Ashkenazi on 2 June. We also reiterated our concerns at the UN Security Council remote meeting on the Middle East Peace Process on 20 May. The UK position is clear: any unilateral moves towards annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel would be damaging to efforts to restart peace negotiations and contrary to international law. We will continue to press Israel and the Palestinians strongly on the need to return to negotiations to achieve peace and the realist action of a two state solution.