Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he has made to the Israeli Government on the detention of Palestinian children in Israeli prisons; [104414]

(2) what representations he has made to the Israeli Government on the use of solitary confinement for child prisoners. [104416]

Alistair Burt MP; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State: We remain concerned about the treatment of Palestinian children under the Israeli military court system. We continue to lobby the Israeli authorities for improvements, including a reduction in the number of arrests that occur at night, an end to shackling and the introduction of audio-visual recording of interrogations.

We welcomed Israel's decision of 4 October 2011 to raise the age of legal majority for Palestinian children in the Israeli military justice system, a step we had advocated. I raised the implementation of this decision with the Israel ambassador on 23 February.

In addition to our lobbying of the Israeli authorities, the UK is supporting research into this issue by leading UK and international lawyers; a report is due to be issued in April. We have also funded the work of Defence for Children International and No Legal Frontiers on the rights of Palestinian child detainees.

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Israeli government on recent trends in the number of Palestinians detained without charge in the last year. [104415]

Alistair Burt: I have regularly raised our concerns about the use of administrative detention by Israel, including with the Israeli ambassador to London on 23 February, the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister on 27 February and the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister on 19 March.

We continue to encourage the Israeli authorities to comply with their obligations under international law, including in their policies on detention and the treatment of Palestinian prisoners.

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Israeli Government on the revocation of residence permits from Palestinians in east Jerusalem. [104417]

Alistair Burt: We have many concerns about Israeli actions in east Jerusalem, which we consider to be occupied territory. These concerns include the removal of residency rights from Palestinians; the evictions of Palestinians and demolition of Palestinian property; the construction of illegal Israeli settlements; possible unilateral changes to the municipal borders; and severe difficulties of access to Jerusalem for Palestinians from the west bank or even for those residents of Jerusalem who live beyond the separation barrier.

Through our embassy in Tel Aviv, we have lobbied the appropriate authorities on these issues. We continue to work closely with the EU and other international partners and to call on Israel to ease restrictions on movement and access.