During this week’s oral question session to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, I asked the Foreign Secretary how the UK is ensuring that Israel ends its unlawful occupation of Palestinian territories. This was following last week’s momentous advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) which concluded that Israel’s continued occupation and annexation of Palestinian territories is unlawful and that Israel is obliged to end the occupation as rapidly as possible.

Israel has seized more land this year than any year in the past three decades, since the 1993 Oslo Accords. This is unacceptable and must be met with full condemnation and tough action from the international community. The ICJ has advised that all States should work together to bring an end to the illegal occupation. The new Labour Government has made it clear that it is strongly opposed to the expansion of illegal settlements and rising settler violence. These are encouraging first steps and I was pleased to hear the Middle East Minister confirm that action is already being taken to sanction settler groups in the West Bank, with further tougher action to follow.

In just under one month of being in government, we have already taken strides in working towards peace for Palestinians including laying out a clear pathway to justice and statehood for Palestine, beginning with immediate restoration of funding to UNRWA and a clear commitment to recognise a sovereign Palestinian state. This is a government that is committed to restoring diplomacy and upholding human rights and accountability across the globe, including in Palestine and I look forward to continue working with Ministers in the coming weeks to continue advancing the cause for peace for Palestinians.

You can watch my full question to the Foreign Secretary here or read the full text on Hansard here.