Middle East

Paula Barker Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

The right hon. Member will know that after the election we introduced new and strong arms export controls to cover anything that could be used in operations in Gaza, including anything that might breach international law. We have been clear about that.

The right hon. Member raises the issue of the yellow line in Gaza, which I am deeply troubled about. We have heard Prime Minister Netanyahu talking about trying to seek 70% control of Gaza, when the 20-point plan involved full withdrawal. I am worried that there are attempts under way to make that yellow line permanent, and to condense the land available for the Palestinian people in Gaza into an ever-smaller area. That fundamentally goes against the agreements in the 20-point plan, which were endorsed by Hamas, Israel and countries across the world. That 20-point plan needs to be upheld, and it includes the withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza as part of its implementation.

[Paula Barker (Liverpool Wavertree) (Lab)]

I thank the Foreign Secretary for her statement confirming that she has strengthened our business risk guidance to make it clearer and unambiguous. To labour the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed), however, we know that settlements are illegal, so why are the Government only publishing guidance to businesses? We do not simply issue guidance to stop businesses trading in ivory, illegal firearms or narcotics—we ban them, as we have banned businesses from trading with illegally occupied Crimea. The Foreign Secretary stated that it was complex, but why is guidance enough when it comes to illegally occupied Palestinian land, but not illegally occupied Ukrainian land? Will she please be clear and unambiguous in her response?

[Yvette Cooper]

The Government are clear that part of what we are doing with this package of additional sanctions is targeting businesses and organisations that are facilitating the operations in the illegal settlements. We believe that the sanctions regime needs to be strengthened to allow us to go further in different areas, and we need to work with other countries on that. It is obviously important to distinguish between what is happening in the illegal settlements, and trade right across Israel; the specific issue we are targeting is about settlement goods and the illegal Israeli settlements. Other countries have been looking at that and have found some of the practicalities challenging. I understand the point that my hon. Friend has made, and the concerns raised around this issue. We continue to look at what more can be done, and to work with international partners.