Diplomat insists Palestine 'honours and respects' LGBT people after group was banned from West Bank

In the letter to Mr Zomlot - who is in practice the PA's ambassador to Britain - included a quote from Mr Arzeikat which said that the al-Qaws group's actions “go against and infringe the higher principles and values of Palestinian society.”

Mr Arzeikat also suggested that police would pursue staff members of the community group and called for Palestinians to inform on their activities to the authorities.

But Mr Zomlot tried to play this down, saying: “Palestine honours and respects the dignity of all Palestinians and does not discriminate or tolerate any form of discrimination.”

There have long been claims of discrimination against LGBT people in the West Bank.

In Gaza In February 2016, the armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out the execution of Mahmoud Ishtiwi - one of the group’s leading commanders, under allegations of gay sex and theft.

In 2015, a Palestinian artist named Khaled Jarrar painted a rainbow flag on a section of a West Bank wall. A group of Palestinians painted over it.

A recent survey suggested only five per cent of Palestinians accepted gay relationships and there was uproar at the announcement from the al-Qaws group that it planned to hold conference in the northern West Bank city of Nablus on August 4 to discuss gender pluralism in the city.

Among the 60 Labour MPs to sign the letter of protest to Mr Zomlot were Stella Creasy, Jon Cruddas and Stephen Doughty. But Jeremy Corbyn – a long-time pro-Palestinian campaigner – was not among them.