Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Deferred
Extend sanctions to all businesses operating within illegal Israeli settlements in West Bank.
Recommendation
The Committee welcomes the sanctions that the Government has imposed on illegal outposts and violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Until these settlements are curtailed and the violence ends, these sanctions should be sustained and extended to all businesses operating in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The Committee welcomes the sanctioning of companies and organisations that have facilitated the building of settlements and the Government should extend this to further companies and organisations who do such work. The Government must set out in its response to this Report the concrete action it is taking as a result of the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion which was delivered over a year ago. (Recommendation, Paragraph 77) 53 The day after–and the weeks/months after that
Government Response Summary
The government's response for this recommendation (Paragraph 77, concerning sanctions and the ICJ Advisory Opinion) instead addresses a different recommendation (Paragraph 84) regarding encouraging other countries to normalise relations for a two-state solution.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The Government notes the Committee’s recommendation on future sanctions. As the committee is aware, the Government does not speculate on potential future designations. The Government has imposed a number of sanctions on Israelis and Israeli entities for their roles in settlements and settler violence. On 10 June, the former Foreign Secretary announced sanctions against Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in their personal capacity for inciting violence towards Palestinians. Prior to that, on 20 May, following a dramatic surge in settler violence, the former Foreign Secretary announced sanctions targeting individuals, illegal settler outposts and organisations supporting violence against Palestinian Communities in the West Bank. He had previously announced sanctions on 15 October targeting three illegal settler outposts and four organisations that have supported and sponsored violence against communities in the West Bank. These measures will help bring accountability to those who have supported and perpetrated such heinous abuses of human rights. The Government notes the Committee’s request to set out its approach to the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024. The UK respects the independence of the International Court of Justice, and the Government continues to consider this Advisory Opinion carefully with the seriousness and rigour it deserves. However, we have been clear that many aspects of the Opinion are already government policy: we agree that settlements are illegal and that Israel must cease all settlement activities immediately; that we must distinguish in everything we do between Israel within its 1967 borders, and illegal settlements in what is Occupied Palestinian Territory; and that Israel must bring an end to its presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as rapidly as possible. The day after–and the weeks/months after that Conclusion and recommendation 14–15