Israel and Palestine

Imran Hussain Excerpts

Monday 14th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)]

I begin by acknowledging and welcoming the hugely important step announced by the Foreign Secretary and reaffirmed by the Minister today. The ban on imports of settlement goods and the powers to target those who support, facilitate or profit from settlement activity, and the conclusion in line with the ICJ’s substantial ruling that Israel’s continued occupation of Palestine is unlawful, is a hugely welcome step taken by this Government. Equally important is the fact that the Government have made clear the complete reset in our relationship. That is very important, but we must be clear that any reset must mean more than just a change in language; it must mean serious consequences for those who flagrantly breach international law.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

I agree with my hon. Friend that it is very good that we heard from the Government last week that they recognise that Israel’s occupation is unlawful. Does he agree that, given that it is unlawful, it is absolutely vital that it is the Palestinian people, but also the international community in the widest sense, who get to set what happens in the future in the territories of Palestine, rather than it being solely Israel’s responsibility, which is the view of Israel?

[Imran Hussain]

My hon. Friend makes an important point, and it is the point that I am making. I will come on to the international rules-based order shortly, and that will perhaps answer his very important question.

Many of us in this House have been calling for these measures for years. Let us be honest: many of us have stood here in debate after debate, speaking about these very issues, only to be told by Ministers time and again that they are reviewing what action to take or looking at the ICJ advisory opinion. While we were having those debates in this House and deliberating, the Palestinians did not have the luxury of waiting. Frankly, it has taken a change of Government to get us to this place. Let us be clear: on genocide in Gaza, war crimes across Palestine and the ethnic cleansing of whole Palestinian communities, the previous Government should have acted. They failed to stand against injustice, failed to stand for human rights, and failed to stand for the international rules-based order.

[Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a passionate speech. I am sure that like me, he will have had many constituents lobbying him on this issue over the past few years; in my constituency, the Hanwell Friends of Sabastiya, which is a village on the west bank, have often come up to speak to me. Does he agree that community organisations and friendship groups like that have had an important role to play in influencing this Government to take the robust steps that they have now taken?

[Imran Hussain]

My hon. Friend raises a much broader point. Let us pay tribute to not just the fantastic community groups in all our constituencies, but the millions of people who rightly marched on our streets when our Government got it so wrong. I pay tribute to each and every one of them for their peaceful protest. They were right, and those making the decisions in this place were wrong.

I will concentrate my remarks not on the direction of the recent announcements, but on the pace at which this Government should now travel. As always, my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East (Andy McDonald) made a powerful contribution. He is absolutely right; while I, like him, welcome the Government’s announcement of a double lock on arms licences, this House still needs clarity today. I very much hope that the Minister will clarify whether that double lock applies to existing licences.

My sincere request of this Government is that we must go further. We must now end all remaining arms sales to Israel and, in particular, close the F-35 loophole. We must ensure that no equipment of UK origin directly or indirectly supports genocide in Gaza, or war crimes anywhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The scale of death and suffering caused by the right-wing Netanyahu Government’s genocide in Gaza demands urgent and further immediate action. With more than 70,000 Palestinians killed in recent years, including over 21,000 children, the scale of this horror should shame the entire international community. The blockade, the denial of aid, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the forced confinement of Palestinians while Israel illegally occupies most of their land have created the most serious humanitarian crisis. This is a product of the machinery of genocide and war crimes that Israel continues to operate. Children continue to be denied food, water and medicines, and families continue to be pushed into impossible conditions.

If we are serious about international law, we must go further. We must press for the full and immediate lifting of the blockade, unimpeded humanitarian access and the protection of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s mandate, staff, premises and operations. We should also be clear that although aid funding is, of course, welcome—the spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), was right that there is a different debate to be had about our contribution to international aid and how, disappointingly, it has dropped down the agenda—it cannot be a substitute for the political action needed to stop the war crimes and the conditions of genocide that make that aid necessary in the first place.

[Mr Adnan Hussain (Blackburn) (Ind)]

The hon. Member has repeatedly mentioned the word “genocide”, yet the Government repeatedly say that only a competent court can formally determine whether genocide has occurred in Gaza. Does he agree that that is not the issue, and that genocide prevention law exists precisely because waiting for a final judgment may mean that it comes too late? Does the hon. Member also agree that we have an obligation to act, not once a court has found that genocide has taken place, but as soon as there is a serious risk that genocide may be occurring?

[Imran Hussain]

Of course I agree with the hon. Member. The genocide is unfolding right before our eyes. I would gently say to him that the Foreign Secretary’s language in this House has to be within certain scope. However, he did list off genocides, which to me suggested that he accepts that there is a genocide. Enough scholars, legal minds and other people across the globe have confirmed that this is a genocide unfolding right before our eyes.

I will be very brief, Madam Deputy Speaker. I welcome the announcement regarding the west bank; the Foreign Secretary was right to call out the settler terrorists in the west bank. That matters, because Palestinian communities know exactly what that violence is designed to do: frighten them, isolate them and drive them from their home. The powers announced recently are the right powers; now, they must be used. Sanctions on all settler terrorists, as well as the whole settlement enterprise—those who finance it, profit from it, build it, advertise it and politically sustain it—must come as soon as possible.

I will make some final submissions regarding the ICJ and ICC. I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s comment that we will stand with the ICC and ICJ. Frankly, it is disgraceful that judges in those courts have come under pressure and faced sanctions. An international rules-based order counts for nothing if we abandon the institutions that uphold it the moment their rulings become inconvenient. We cannot cite the ICJ’s advisory opinion one week and say nothing when its judges are threatened the next week. We must continue to stand with the international rules-based order.

In closing, the recent announcements are an important first step, but they are only the start. The war crimes, genocide and ethnic cleansing must end, and the international community must commit to ending them. Those responsible for genocide, war crimes and ethnic cleansing must be held to account, and we in this House have a moral, ethical and legal duty not to stop until that happens.