Officials from our Consulate-General in Jerusalem closely monitor demolitions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, working with the EU and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. We regularly make clear, publicly and privately, to the Israeli authorities our serious concerns about the actual or threatened demolition of Palestinian homes and infrastructure in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Demolitions cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; are harmful to the peace process; and are contrary to international humanitarian law. The Fourth Geneva Convention is clear that the destruction of any real or personal property in Occupied Territory is not justified unless it is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.<\/p>
In addition we continue to support Palestinians facing demolition or eviction through support to the Norwegian Refugee Council legal aid programme which helps individuals to challenge these decisions in the Israeli legal system. We are also funding the International Peace and Cooperation Centre (IPCC), an independent Palestinian non-profit organisation, to support long-term planning for Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3474", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Anelay of St Johns"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2015-03-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-03-05T15:05:36.897Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2015-02-23", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Jerusalum: Palestinians"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty\u2019s Government what assessment they have made of the listing by the government of Israel of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem for demolition.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2018", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hylton"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hylton"} ], "uin" : "HL5157"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }