Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Harpreet Uppal Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, both for his question and the travel he has recently undertaken. As I am sure he would expect, I will not be drawn on questions about Israel’s democratic process—clearly, their elections are a matter for them—but I can assure my hon. Friend that we do everything that we can to try to support peacemakers on both sides of this conflict to find common cause.

[Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)]

I welcome these sanctions, and pay tribute to my hon. Friend for all his hard work; I thank him and officials for everything they are doing. As other colleagues have done, I also ask him to ensure that we can recognise Palestine at the UN conference, which will be a big moment. The US is a key partner in this work, and my hon. Friend—the Minister, I should say—will know that the US ambassador to Israel has said that the goal of an independent Palestinian state is no longer something it is pursuing. What discussions are we having with the US on that?

[Mr Falconer]

My hon. Friend is kind, and I am grateful for her words. She is very welcome to call me her hon. Friend. The questions that she raises are key. We discuss these issues with our friends and our allies. Not all our positions are the same, but I will always set out with clarity, both from this Dispatch Box and in all my diplomatic engagements, the position of the UK Government.