A strong, principled statement from Ed Miliband: clear on antisemitism, clear on illegal settlements, and clear that Britain should act to defend a viable two-state solution 👏 "And I also want to say emphatically to people in Britain and indeed across the world, holding British Jews responsible for the actions of the Israeli government is anti-Semitism, plain and simple. What we seek today is to salvage the only cause for peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, the two-state solution." "Let me start with the situation in the West Bank. Mr Speaker, Madam Deputy Speaker, at the time of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993, around 270,000 settlers lived in the occupied Palestinian territories. Today, it is some 770,000." "More settlements have been approved under the four years of this Israeli government than in the previous 20 years. Let us spell out what this has meant for Palestinian communities: houses bulldozed, roads and public infrastructure destroyed, families displaced from their homes, community by community, family by family, person by person." "Madam Deputy Speaker, 65 Palestinian communities completely expelled since 2023. A total of over 4,000 Palestinians evicted from their homes due to settler violence and state actions." "And in August, the crossing of a long-standing red line: the issuing of E1 tenders for over 1,200 homes. Madam Deputy Speaker, I visited a community in the area covered by E1 in 2014. The Bedouin communities I met in Khan al-Ahmar had lived on that land for generations." "E1 proposals would evict them and place settlements directly between East Jerusalem and the West Bank, cutting through the heart of Palestine. Let's be absolutely clear what this means: the creation of a set of facts on the ground to make the two-state solution unviable." "And on top of official state policy, settler terrorism is rampant. The UN reports an average of six violent settler attacks against Palestinians per day this year. Per day, the highest on record." "Take one example: in Al-Mughayyir, 20 miles north of Jerusalem, settlers have encircled the village and mounted a campaign of intimidation, largely under the protection of the Israeli military. Families in the village are increasingly cut off from accessing their land, squeezed into ever smaller areas, and have olive trees uprooted and livestock stolen." "In the same community just last week, two teenagers were shot when settlers entered the village under police and military escort. Both died before reaching hospital. Madam Deputy Speaker, five teenagers have now been killed from their school this year." "Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli Prime Minister, has described what is happening as, I quote, 'a violent and criminal effort to ethnically cleanse territories in the West Bank.' The former Minister of Health and retired Brigadier General from the IDF, Efraim Sneh, has said, and I quote again, 'This is ethnic cleansing, pure.' To put it simply, Madam Deputy Speaker, ethnic cleansing is defined by the UN as a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas." "The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank perpetrated by settler terrorists." "And all too often, the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this. And worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians. Now, Madam Deputy Speaker, I recognise the gravity of saying this, but the truth is, it is the least the people who face such suffering deserve, and it should be the prelude to justice." "Now, for a long time, the British government has rightly said settlements are illegal, but we have remained silent on the question of the legality of the occupation as a whole, which in 2024 the International Court of Justice concluded was unlawful. Today I announce that the official view of the British government is that the occupation is unlawful because of Israel's entrenchment of its control, its intention to extend permanent sovereignty, and its expansionist agenda via illegal settlements." "Madam Deputy Speaker, our position is not just an overdue statement of reality. The government believes the unlawfulness of the occupation should be reflected in the economic relationships we choose to have with the occupied territories. I do not believe the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets." "So I can announce today that we will introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories. To do so, we will introduce a new comprehensive sanctions regime, working with my right honourable friend the Business Secretary, with appropriate religious exemptions." "And as part of this regime, we will go further. We will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion. So, to those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this: you will face the full force of UK sanctions." "Settlements are illegal; they should not be promoted in our country. Earlier this year, Madam Deputy Speaker, shamefully, just a few miles from here, we saw an expo advertising illegal settlement land. We must, and we will, ensure this never happens again." "So we will ban the advertising in the UK of illegal settlements. The sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel. We will continue to support important and valued trade with Green Line Israel, precisely because we support the two-state solution, including security and prosperity for Israel." "For this reason, I wholeheartedly oppose the boycott, divestment and sanctions, or BDS, campaign. The legislation I've announced today will be in place within six to nine months, and we will also take more immediate steps. Today, we are sanctioning a further set of extremist settlers who have supported or incited acts of violence against Palestinian communities." "And I can also announce that we're extending the existing global human rights regime, such that it will enable swifter action to deter settlement expansion, including, crucially, seeking to prevent the development of E1. I also want to address the question of arms sales." "We've already suspended over 30 arms licences used by the IDF in Gaza. That suspension remains fully in place. We will now also refuse all licence applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation. In effect, a double lock against arms sales." "This means the ban on such exports will now remain in place as long as the occupation persists. Madam Deputy Speaker, to advance the two-state solution, we also need viable and effective Palestinian governance. So I urge the Palestinian Authority to accelerate reform, and I urge Israel to lift its withholding of revenues that is frankly financially crippling the provision of essential services in the West Bank." "The set of measures I have announced represents a clear message to the government of Israel, to the Palestinians in the occupied territories, and to the world, that we will not acquiesce in the destruction of the two-state solution."