§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanPhase one of the Quartet's road map is clear that settlement activity including natural growth should be frozen and that all outposts set up since March 2001 should be dismantled. This has not happened. Continued Israeli settlement building has undoubtedly contributed to the current stalemate in the peace process. Continued settlement building cannot be defended on security grounds. It undermines trust in the region and is illegal under international law. Examples of UK activity on the issue of settlements are:
We lobby the Israeli Government at all levels to discuss their continued failure to fulfil their road map objectives concerning settlement activity.
Officials in our Embassy in Tel Aviv and our Consulate General in Jerusalem monitor Israeli settlement activity on the ground through visits to settlements and work with Israeli, Palestinian and international NGOs, the World Bank and UN specialised agencies to track settlement activity. This includes regular contact with the Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Department.
Analysis is made of the impact of continued settlement activity directly on the Palestinian population and the prospects for the establishment of a territorially contiguous Palestinian state.
Her Majesty's Government have spent £110,000 in financial year 2003–04 on funding a project monitoring settlement activity and are sharing this information with our international partners.
We have also sponsored a number of studies on Israeli Government financial support to settlers, including one conducted by a well known Israeli NGO in 2003. We share data from these projects and our own monitoring with our international partners for use in their discussions on settlement expansion with the Israeli Government.
18WSHer Majesty's Government will continue this important work while maintaining equal commitment to encourage the Palestinian Authority to make real progress on their road map commitments.