Every Israeli and Palestinian has the right to live in peace and security. The Government is vocal in its condemnation of all acts of violence, including attacks by Israeli settlers and Palestinians.
We continue to urge the Israeli authorities to reverse its policy over illegal settlements, which take us further away from a negotiated two-state solution. The UK does not recognise Israeli sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. The Government therefore does not consider the Occupied Palestinian Territories to be part of Israel, and has been consistently clear in its opposition to Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem.
The Government has been clear about our position on Israeli settlements. Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, to which Israel is a state party, prohibits an occupying power from transferring its own civilian population into occupied territory. Consequently, settlements are illegal under international law. They present an obstacle to peace and take us further away from a two-state solution.