The British Palestine Project welcomes Foreign Affairs Committee report on Israel-Palestine
Posted: 25th July 2025
Peace with justice, security and equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians
The Britain Palestine Project (BPP) warmly welcomes the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) report on the Israel–Palestine conflict (HC 488) as a significant, constructive intervention on UK policy. This cross-party report arrives at a critical moment with the confirmation by President Macron that France will recognise Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September and that Israel and the US have withdrawn from talks with Hamas. The Committee’s conclusions and recommendations – from the call for an immediate ceasefire, urgent humanitarian measures in Gaza to long-term political steps – closely align with BPP’s policy platform and the United Kingdom’s obligations under international law. They are needed more urgently than ever. UK policy has been consistently “too little, too late,” and this foot dragging has seriously damaged the country’s reputation abroad, especially in the Arab world, is now exposed by the French President’s move.
There are some of the key points and additional steps the Government should take to fully meet its legal and moral responsibilities. Our aim is to inform and encourage Parliament to use this report as a springboard for decisive action, in keeping with Britain’s legacy and global responsibilities. BPP is pleased to note several areas where the FAC’s recommendations echo our own platform’s calls for action:
Immediate Ceasefire and Humanitarian Access: The Committee urges the UK Government to redouble its efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, coupled with the release of all hostages, an end to military activity in the West Bank, and unimpeded humanitarian access for civilians.
Recognise the State of Palestine: The Committee recommends that the UK now recognise the state of Palestine “while there is still a state to recognise,” noting that an inalienable right should not be made conditional. BPP welcomes this conclusion but urges the UK government to build on its recent additional funding for the PA and outline a roadmap of the necessary steps that need to follow recognition beginning with an end to the illegal military occupation of Palestinian Territory. Recognition should not be a long process but an immediate action, we should keep pace with the French.
Evacuate injured children from Gaza: BPP fully supports the recommendation that badly injured Gazan children should be evacuated to the UK for treatment, as has been proposed and for which sponsors are ready.
Ban on Settlement Goods: The report urges the Government to prepare a comprehensive ban on imports from settlements (drawing on the UN’s database of companies involved in settlement activity) this is long overdue.
Upholding International Law: Notably, the Committee endorses the July 2024 International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion, which concluded that Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful. The Committee welcomes steps the UK has taken (such as targeted sanctions on violent settlers and Israeli Ministers) and insists the Government set out concrete action in response to the ICJ’s findings.
Together, these recommendations reflect an ever-growing consensus that the UK must take principled steps – diplomatic, economic, and legal – to impose heavier costs on Israel for not stopping their war of collective punishment against the people of Gaza.
Going Further: BPP’s Proposals for Stronger Government Action
While welcoming the FAC report, BPP respectfully suggests that the Government can and should go further in certain areas to fully uphold Britain’s values and international obligations, doing the legally obligated minimum would be a step forward but going beyond the minimum in lockstep with allies like France who are now leading, is now required. Additional measures that Ministers should consider, beyond what the FAC explicitly recommended, include:
Impose a Full Arms Embargo: The Committee rightly questioned continued UK arms exports to Israel in light of potential breaches of international humanitarian law but did not agree with submissions they received calling for a full arms embargo. BPP urges the Government to go further by immediately halting all arms trade and military cooperation with Israel.
Suspend the UK–Israel Trade Agreement: We note the FAC’s observation that formal trade talks and the bilateral “2030 Roadmap” are on hold pending a peace settlement. In BPP’s view, the UK should take a firmer stance by suspending the UK–Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement outright, invoking its human rights clauses.
Ban trade in goods and services with illegal Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, stop UK charities funding settlements and ban cultural/educational activities with settlements.
Enforce Visa Parity and Issue Consular Warnings: The FAC report underscores that differentiation between Israel and the occupied territories is essential. As a practical extension, BPP recommends the Government impose visa requirements on Israeli settlers in the West Bank equivalent to those faced by Palestinian travellers, establishing parity and underscoring that settlers are not living in recognized Israeli territory. At the same time, the UK should provide clear consular advisories to British nationals involved in the conflict. This includes instructing or advising UK dual nationals residing in illegal settlements to leave and formally warning UK citizens serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of their potential liability for war crimes.
Join the ICJ Genocide Case: BPP urges the UK to join the ongoing case at the International Court of Justice concerning allegations of genocide against the Palestinian people. A number of states, for example Ireland and Spain have already jointed the South African case.
Invoke International Accountability – UN and Other Mechanisms:Beyond domestic measures, the UK should lead in international forums to hold persistent violators of international law accountable. In particular, BPP calls on the Government to work with a coalition of states to suspend Israel’s membership in the United Nations pending compliance with the UN Charter and international humanitarian law.
Announce a family reunification programme whereby British citizens can bring their immediate relatives to the UK. The UK’s failure to put such a scheme in place, when it provided a safe haven for Ukrainians with no natural connections to the UK, strikes many as demonstrating the application of a hierarchy of humanity in which not all victims of aggression are treated equally.
Each of the above proposals is grounded in clear legal authority and moral principle. They represent areas where the FAC’s recommendations could be extended for greater impact. We present them in a spirit of constructive engagement – to encourage Ministers and Parliament to be as bold and forward-leaning as the situation demands. Underlying both the FAC’s report and BPP’s platform is a fundamental point: the United Kingdom is bound by international law to respond decisively to the Israel–Palestine crisis. This is not merely a matter of policy preference, but of legal duty – one that Parliament should vigilantly ensure the Government fulfils. The Government must use all the means at its disposal to compel compliance with international law, as the majority of the British electorate clearly expects.
Your sincerely
Dr Brian Brivati
Executive Director, Britain Palestine Project
A call on the government by the BPP to prevent genocide in Gaza
As a charity seeking to promote justice through education and the understanding of Britain’s historic legacy, we are concerned that the British Government is continuing to fail in its duty under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide from occurring in Gaza. The duty to prevent genocide is triggered by the risk itself, not by a final legal determination. Genocidal acts and intent have been identified by multiple international observers and the International Court of Justice.As a State Party to the 1948 Genocide Convention, the United Kingdom is committed to preventing and punishing genocide wherever it occurs. As the world watches the people of Gaza being starved to death, and being shot for seeking minimal sustenance, while at the same time members of the Israeli Government express clear intent to go further; the British Government needs to act resolutely to try to prevent further atrocities and create a space for a peaceful solution.
We call on the British Government to:
- Immediately end all forms of military co-operation and arms trade with Israel, including, if proven, the use of RAF Akrotiri and Brize Norton for intelligence-gathering purposes in support of Israeli military action and including the resupply of United States war materiel to Israel.
- Declare that the UK agrees with the ICJ that there is a risk of genocide taking place and call on Israel to comply fully with the ICJ’s “Provisional Measures”.
- Though the Government says it is not a court and cannot make a judgment on the question of genocidal acts being committed, the UK could join the prevention of genocide case brought at the ICJ by South Africa, Ireland, Spain and others, and encourage other European and Commonwealth countries to follow suit.
- Issue a public notice notifying citizens who have served in the IDF in Gaza of the risk of prosecution for suspected war crimes if they return to the UK.
- Suspend the UK Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement, on the grounds of Israel’s breach of its human rights provisions.
- Persuade key European states to act now to suspend the EU Israel Association Agreement because of Israel’s clear breach of its human rights provisions.
- Ban all engagement with illegal settlements and trade in settlement goods and services.
- Ban commercial, cultural, sporting and academic links with all Israeli public and private institutions based across the pre-1967 Green Line in illegal settlements thus implementing the ICJ Advisory Opinion of July 2024 on the unlawful nature of the 1967 Occupation.
- Work with a broad coalition of states to suspend Israel’s membership of the United Nations until it is judged by the UN General Aassembly to be again in compliance with its Charter obligations and fully respects International Humanitarian Law and all human rights conventions to which it is a signatory.
- Recognise the independent sovereign state of Palestine.
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