London, Nov 11, IRNA ,The British government is considering how it may be able to ban UK residents from buying houses in illegal Israeli settlements, Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell has disclosed.
“We are looking at whether there are effective ways in which we can actively discourage them from so doing,” Rammell said in a written parliamentary reply published Tuesday.
“All settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law and settlement construction is a serious obstacle to peace,” he said.
“Given that, we would certainly not want any UK nationals resident in Israel to purchase property inside one of those illegal settlements,” the minister told MPs.
Last year, it was revealed that Israeli companies were using UK property shows to sell housing in the ever-expanding illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
But when questioned on the estimated number of houses in illegal settlements owned by UK national, Rammell said that the government does not hold such figures.
British MPs were also told last week that there was no specific ban on UK-based charities being able to provide funds for illegal Israeli settlements within rules administered by the Charity Commission.