Around 140 Labour MPs have written to the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, calling on the UK government to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, warning that sanctions on individual settlers and ministers are not enough to stop Israel’s accelerating annexation drive.
In a letter dated 7 June, the MPs urge Cooper to take “urgent, concrete action to counter the escalation of violations against Palestinians” by “ending trade with illegal Israeli settlements.”
The MPs warn that Israel’s move to prepare the forced displacement of the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan Al-Ahmar forms part of a wider policy of “erasure, displacement and state-backed settler violence” in the occupied West Bank. They say the planned demolition of the community and destruction of its property “would constitute the war crime of forcible transfer” and is tied to Israel’s E1 settlement plan, which seeks “to bisect the West Bank” and make the two-state solution “an impossibility.”.
Such a move, the MPs warn, “would constitute the war crime of forcible transfer.” They add that Khan Al-Ahmar has faced “a gruelling struggle against erasure, displacement and state-backed settler violence” as part of Israel’s E1 settlement plan, which they say seeks “to bisect the West Bank” and make a two-state solution “an impossibility.”
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 MPs say settlement expansion and annexation in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem has “escalated exponentially,” with Israel reported to have approved 34 new settlements in April 2026 alone. They also cite UN warnings that settlement expansion and annexation are driving mass forced displacement, while “settler violence… is also out of control.”
While welcoming UK sanctions against specific individuals, including Bezalel Smotrich and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the MPs insist that “those sanctions are not enough.”
“Individual settlers and even individual ministers are only implementing what the Israeli government is supporting,” the letter states. “Settlements — and all the violations which come with them — are sanctioned, incentivised and financially enabled by the Israeli government.”
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The MPs also point to the Labour government’s previous pledge to “take concrete steps in accordance with international law to counter settlement expansion and to challenge policies and threats of forcible displacement and annexation,” but say that “since then, the situation has worsened considerably and the government has taken no further action. This is unacceptable.”
The letter argues that the legal case for ending trade with settlements is clear. It cites the International Court of Justice, which has directed third states not to enter into “trade dealings with Israel concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” a position the MPs say is “widely interpreted as meaning states must not trade with settlements.”
They also point to UK precedent on occupied Ukrainian territory, noting that Britain does not trade with illegally occupied lands such as Crimea and other occupied parts of Ukraine. “The UK would not need primary legislation to enact a ban,” the MPs argue.
The appeal comes as settler violence continues to escalate across the occupied West Bank. In the latest attack on Huwara, footage showed an Israeli soldier beating two Palestinian men alongside settlers. The incident adds to years of repeated settler attacks on the town, which Palestinians and rights groups have described as part of a broader campaign of intimidation, displacement and impunity.
The MPs say several European countries are already moving ahead with their own bans on trade with settlements, while at least 11 EU countries, including France and Sweden, have called on the European Commission to end such trade. Spain is already implementing a ban, while Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium are legislating for similar measures.
“The UK need not wait for a common EU position,” the letter states, adding that Britain can act unilaterally “as it has done with other illegally occupied lands.”
The MPs conclude by warning that “there is an urgent need for accountability and concrete consequences” in response to Israel’s violations, which they say are “spiralling by the day.”
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