UK consulate in Palestine account briefly suspended on X

The British consulate in Jerusalem, which represents the UK government in occupied Palestine, had its account on X briefly suspended on Sunday evening. 

The @UKinJerusalem account was down until Monday afternoon, prompting the text “Account suspend” and “X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules”. It was later reinstated.

It was not immediately clear why the account had been suspended or which rules were violated. 

Before the reinstatement, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told Midle East Eye that it was in contact with X to reactivate the account as soon as possible.

Middle East Eye reached out to X for comment but did not receive a response.

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According to its website, the consulate works on “political, commercial, security and economic interests between the UK and Palestine”. 

It also says it provides consular assistance to British nationals in occupied East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza. 

On Sunday, hours before the account was suspended, the consulate posted a thread on X, jointly with several other diplomatic missions, criticising Israel’s use of administrative detention against Palestinians. 

“Over 9,000 Palestinians are detained in Israeli prisons, including thousands held without charge or trial,” the consulate wrote on X.

“Human rights organisations describe prison conditions for Palestinians as severe and life-threatening, citing inadequate food, denial of medical care and systematic abuse. We are deeply concerned by reports regarding the deterioration of Dr Abu Safiyah’s health.”

Hussam Abu Safiyah, a Palestinian paediatrician and director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, was abducted by Israeli forces on 27 December 2024 and has been held without charge or trial since then.

“Detainees have the right to be informed about the charges underlying any detention, must be granted access to legal assistance, and be subject to a fair trial,” the British consulate said. 

“We call upon Israel to uphold its human rights obligation towards detainees under international law, including by granting the ICRC immediate action to all detention facilities.”

middleeasteye.net