Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-10-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take in response to plans by the government of Israel to establish a new settlement deep in the West Bank.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have raised our concerns over this issue with the Israeli authorities. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), issued a statement on 5 October condemning the announcement by Israel of plans to construct a new settlement near Shilo. The increased pace of settlement advancement, including moves to approve retroactively unauthorised settlement units and outposts, fundamentally calls into question Israel’s commitment to the two state solution.