Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion 110, on Palestinian oil and gas reserves, tabled on 26 June 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Government believes that Israel must fulfil its obligations under the Oslo Accords, including through the exploration of shared natural resources. We continue to stress to the Israeli authorities the damage caused by its restrictions. I can assure you that the Government has long been of the view that easing restrictions, both on the movement of Palestinian people and goods internally and externally, and on access to natural resources, is an important step on the path to a two-state solution.

The gas fields off the coast of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories are a commercial matter. We remain in regular contact with British Gas, the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel about the exploration of offshore oil and gas. We also continue to follow the situation of oil exploration licenses in the Golan Heights closely. We have been clear that Israel must comply with its obligations under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.