More than 130 lawyers and legal academics have warned the prime minister that sanctions recently announced against Israeli settlements fall ‘far short’ of UK obligations under international law.
In a six-page letter to Andy Burnham, they call for tougher measures, contrasting the government’s approach to sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Signatories include 15 silks, over 30 solicitors and former Lord Justice of Appeal Sir Alan Moses.
The letter was sent to Burnham today, following foreign secretary Ed Miliband’s announcement of a ban on the import of goods from Israeli illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
'We welcome the UK Government’s decision to act alongside its allies, Canada and France, but the action covered in the recent announcement falls far short of Britain’s obligations to oppose Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory under a 2024 International Court of Justice ruling,' the letter says.
The lawyers call for measures including extending the British sanctions to cover insurance, accountancy services, and digital infrastructure; confirming publicly that no UK public body, pension scheme, or sovereign fund holds investments in settlements; and imposing a full arms embargo on Israel.
UCL professor of international law Ralph Wilde said: 'The government’s decision to finally acknowledge that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Gaza Strip and West Bank is illegal is welcome. But the consequences of this illegality for the UK and other states – special legal duties to take comprehensive action to bring this and other illegal actions by Israel, including its genocide in Gaza, to an end – are far more wide-ranging than the important but limited actions against settlements and settlers announced.'
Miliband told parliament in his 8 September announcement that the British government agrees ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is taking place in the West Bank. 'Article 6(3) of the Arms Trade Treaty prohibits transfers where a State has knowledge that the items would be used in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions or other war crimes. Having made that finding, the UK Government cannot treat that knowledge as absent, the lawyers', the letter said.
The letter contrasts the announced measures with Britain’s sanctions on Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – which extend to Russian banks, energy companies, shipping networks, exports, investment activity, and financial services – on the basis that those structures enable and finance the occupation. ‘The same logic has yet to be applied towards Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory,’ it says.
The lawyers said they plan to come together as a coalition to support Palestinian rights and protect freedom of expression in Britain regarding Palestine.
