Israel and Palestine

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

I feel moved by what my hon. Friend has asked. I really thank her for the work that she has been doing. As I thought long and hard about the statement and some of the words I used—one has to weigh one’s words carefully—I thought precisely that those people who are under, for example, settler terrorism and the attempts at ethnic cleansing deserve at least the truth to be told about what they are facing. So, absolutely, this is in part an expression of solidarity with the people my hon. Friend talks about.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

I warmly welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement and its tone, and especially the fact that he referred clearly to ethnic cleansing and an illegal occupation. We have to stop the E1 settlement, which is a red line for the two-state solution, so I welcome these sanctions. Although we had been told for a long time that they were not possible, it is really good to see them today.

On the sanctions, there will be Israeli companies exporting from the green-line area and occupied territories; we will be relying on their honesty to declare that. Likewise, military hardware made in the UK might go to green-line Israel, but it might be deployed in the occupied territories. Will he explain how he can guarantee that the sanctions will work?