West Bank: Purchase of Settlement Land and Property

Baroness Kennedy of Shaws Excerpts

Monday 6th July 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to criminalise the purchase of settlement houses and land on the West Bank by British citizens.

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)]

My Lords, settlements are illegal under international law. We condemn settlement expansion. In June, the Foreign Secretary updated business risk guidance to explicitly advise against economic and financial activity in illegal settlements. The UK’s citizens and businesses should be aware of the clear evidence of possible human rights abuses associated with Israeli settlements and the risk of involving themselves in Israel’s serious breaches of international law. Anyone contemplating economic or financial involvement in settlements should seek legal advice.

[Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply, but it really is time to match words with actions. There is evidence of purchasing of homes and property on the West Bank in the Occupied Territories. We cannot have British citizens being complicit in violations of international law, and the purchase of or investment in settlement land and property would be complicity.

In the Public Gallery, sitting behind the Bar, we have Mr Justice Ted Meron, who was the president of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal and is one of the world’s most distinguished international lawyers. He was himself a child survivor of the Holocaust; his grandparents and mother were taken out of a Polish ghetto and shot dead by the Nazis, and his brother was killed in the Treblinka concentration camp uprising. Judge Meron became the chief lawyer in Israel’s foreign office before becoming a judge. In 1968—

[Noble Lords]

Question!

[Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (Lab)]

In 1968, he advised the Government of Israel that the creation of settlements in the Occupied Territories would be contrary to international law, then and now. If only the Israeli Government had listened.

[Noble Lords]

Question!

[Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (Lab)]

I listen to this cabal shouting out. What is happening is unlawful, and we are seeing that it is becoming impossible for the Palestinians ever to have a state of their own because of the actions that are currently taking place.

[Noble Lords]

Question!

[Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (Lab)]

The question is this: the UK banned the purchase of land by Russians in the occupied territories of Ukraine; do the Government have the political will to do the same in the West Bank and Gaza?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

It is not a case of political will. This is about what we can do that would make a practical difference and be enforceable and implementable. Our guidance is clear. We are looking at the small number of countries that are exploring going further and implementing such a restriction, and we will continue to do that.