Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make it his policy to suspend trade negotiations with Israel pending the outcomes of ongoing investigations by the International Court of Justice into allegations of human rights violations in that country.

The government respects the independence of the International Court of Justice, and we are carefully considering the Court's advisory opinion with the seriousness and rigour it deserves.

We are of the clear view that Israel should bring an end to its presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as rapidly as possible, but this must be done in a way that creates the conditions for negotiations towards the two-state solution. On 29 July 2024, the Secretary of State announced the Government's intention to deliver negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, Israel, South Korea, Switzerland and Turkey.