To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what contribution
the Government is making to international efforts to ensure that people involved in
the olive harvest in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are protected from violence
and harassment by illegal settlers.
<p>Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have had regular engagement with settler,
political and religious leaders and Israeli Police and government authorities (National
Security Council, Ministry of Justice, and others) on settler violence. They have
specifically raised the issue of the olive harvest with several settler leaders asking
them to urge restraint within their communities and help bring those responsible to
justice.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the
Answer of 15 October 2014, to Question 209580, whether he and his EU counterparts
gave specific consideration to settlement construction in Givat Hamatos, E1 and Har
Homa, and to the relocation of 12,500 Bedouin from E1, and to the implications of
those developments for future relations between the EU and Israel.
<p>Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond)
made clear in his statement of 3 October, the UK deplores Israel’s decision to advance
plans for settlement units in Givat Hamatos. Along with a number of EU counterparts,
and the European External Action Service, he urged the Israeli authorities to reverse
this decision. Discussions are continuing in Brussels on how the EU can best discourage
settlement expansion including in Givat Hamatos, E1 and Har Homa, and plans to relocate
Bedouin from E1. The UK is working closely with other Member States to that end.</p>