THE UK Government must end its “unacceptable” failure to act against Israel war crimes and ban all trade with illegal settlements, some 140 Labour MPs have said.
In a joint letter signed by former ministers and all of the Labour chairs of Westminster select committees, the UK Government has been told there is an “urgent need for accountability and concrete consequences in response to Israel’s violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are spiralling by the day”.
The letter to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was co-ordinated by Melanie Ward, the Labour MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy and the former chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).
It comes as Israel launches air strikes on Iran despite a so-called ceasefire, closes all entry points into the illegally occupied Gaza region of Palestine, and continues its invasion of Lebanon, including air strikes on the capital of Beirut.
Together with almost 140 fellow Labour MPs, I have written to the Foreign Secretary to call for a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements. Our group includes every Labour select committee chair. It’s time to be clear that settlements have no viable economic future (1/2) pic.twitter.com/beerko7qLs
— Melanie Ward MP (@melanie_ward) June 7, 2026
The letter, sent both to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Business Secretary Peter Kyle, reads: “On 19 May 2026 Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich instructed the Israeli Civil Administration to initiate proceedings for the displacement of the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank, and the destruction of their property, which would constitute the war crime of forcible transfer.
“The community of Khan al-Ahmar has been embroiled in a gruelling struggle against erasure, displacement and state-backed settler violence as part of Israel’s E1 plan, which as you know seeks to bisect the West Bank and will make the two-state solution that we all want to see an impossibility.
“Settlement expansion and annexation in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem has escalated exponentially. Israel is reported to have approved 34 new settlements in April 2026 alone, which is half the number approved in the previous record-setting year of 2025. The UN reported in March that settlement expansion and annexation of the West Bank is driving mass forced displacement; with that comes settler violence which is also out of control.
“We welcome the sanctions against specific individuals that the UK has imposed, including against Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. But it is abundantly clear that those sanctions are not enough. Individual settlers and even individual Ministers are only implementing what the Israeli government is supporting.
“Settlements – and all the violations which come with them – are sanctioned, incentivised and financially enabled by the Israeli government. In February 2026, it was stated that our UK Labour Government ‘will take concrete steps in accordance with international law to counter settlement expansion and to challenge policies and threats of forcible displacements and annexation’. But since then, the situation has worsened considerably and the government has taken no further action. This is unacceptable.”
The Labour MPs urged the UK Government to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements, as has been ordered by the International Court of Justice, noting that “there is a precedent in UK law and policy of not trading with illegally occupied lands i.e. Crimea and other illegally occupied parts of Ukraine, which also means the UK would not need primary legislation to enact a ban”.
The letter adds: “If you are not able to do this, please set out why not, with specific reference to i) why the UK’s position is not to implement the direction of the International Court of Justice and ii) why the Government does not feel it could implement a ban under the Sanctions and Anti-money Laundering Act 2018, as it has done with other illegally occupied lands.”
High-profile signatories to the letter include former health secretary Wes Streeting and former violence against women minister Jess Phillips – both of whom resigned from Keir Starmer’s government earlier this year – as well as Foreign Affairs committee chair Emily Thornberry and former international development minister Anneliese Dodds.
A spokesperson from the UK Foreign Office said: “We have strongly and repeatedly condemned settler violence and the expansion of illegal settlements, and we have imposed sanctions both on those responsible for that violence and on individual members of the Israeli cabinet for inciting it.
“We continue to call on the Israeli authorities to clamp down on all those who are seeking to inflame tensions, and to tackle the unacceptable violence and destruction of property that is being committed by settler groups against Palestinian communities."
On May 22, the UK Government signed a joint statement – alongside France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, and the EU – saying: “Businesses should not bid for construction tenders for E1 or other settlement developments.
“They should be aware of legal and reputational consequences of participating in settlement construction including the risk of involving themselves in serious breaches of international law.”
