Israeli Settlements: Trade Ban

Debate between Jeff Smith and Iqbal Mohamed

Thursday 9th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jeff Smith (Manchester Withington) (Lab)]

It is not often that I agree with both the hon. Member for Dewsbury and Batley (Iqbal Mohamed) and the Father of the House, the right hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh). The Father of the House said that the whole House should cry out against the situation in the west bank. He is right and, as I look around, I think that is what is happening in the Chamber. I am not sure that anybody, apart from possibly the Front Benchers, is going to disagree with the motion, so brilliantly moved by my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed).

I support a two-state solution, but every day, as the result of illegal settlement expansion, driven by violence and supported by the Netanyahu Government, that only real hope for a sustainable peace in the middle east gets less likely. Every day there are violent attacks on Palestinians in the west bank: homes demolished, farmland seized and roads blocked. Every day Palestinians are blocked from accessing healthcare, water, employment and education—the basics of life—as a result of their inability to move freely across their land. The settlements make the situation more intolerable and intractable every day.

Of course the settlements are a breach of the fourth Geneva convention. They are condemned as illegal by the ICJ, the UN Security Council and the vast majority of member states, including the UK. If we accept that settlements are illegal, we cannot just stop there. Many of my constituents in Manchester Withington have contacted me, calling for the UK to do what international law requires of us: to ensure that our trade policy reflects both our values and our legal obligations, and to do everything we can to stop the Israeli Government’s actions in supporting settler violence. That means, as a bare minimum, a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

I am not naive enough to think that what the UK does alone will change the Netanyahu Government’s policy, but the international community, working together, has to use every lever we have in this situation. Last year, the ICJ set out its advisory opinion on the situation in the OPT. Governments who are committed to the rule of law should take its conclusions seriously. The court said that states should take steps to prevent trade and investment relations that assist in maintaining the illegal situation created by the occupation and by the settlement enterprise.

[Iqbal Mohamed]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that this issue is not just about products coming from settlements to the UK, but companies in the UK trading in goods and services in the settlements? Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia are all selling tourism services in the occupied territories.

[Jeff Smith]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point and we should not overlook the role of services—it is not just about goods.

The Government will say, and have said, that it is difficult to enact in practice, but just because something is difficult does not mean we should not attempt to fulfil our obligations. Yes, there will be practical complications about enforcement, but complications are no reason to do nothing. They do not stop us committing to the principle. Then we can work out how we make it work. We have heard a number of examples of how we can make the situation work.