§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What measures they, the European Community and the United States are proposing to prevent new and illegal Israeli settlements at Irtas, south of Bethlehem, and elsewhere in the Occupied Territories.
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (The Earl of Caithness)The Israeli Government is in no doubt about our attitude to recent settlement activity in the Occupied Territories: this is illegal and particularly damaging to prospects for peace at a time when we are working to begin a negotiating process, as my honourable friend the Minister of State made clear during his recent visit to Israel. The best way of preventing the establishment of new illegal settlements is by securing an Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967 as part of a settlement of the Arab/Israel dispute. We are continuing to work hard for this.