Caabu: five Palestine policy pledges for Labour leadership contenders
The Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) has launched Five UK Policy Pledges on Palestine for candidates for the leadership of the Labour Party. You can read about it in the statement below.
This pledge card, drafted jointly by Caabu and the Britain Palestine Project, outlines five measures that would build on the Government’s recognition of Palestine through immediate policy changes and apply the same principles of International Law Labour has defended in Ukraine: no acquisition of territory by force, no impunity for attacks on civilians, and no selective respect for
International Law. We ask any candidates for the leadership of the Labour Party to take the Pledge on Palestine. They will be joining an overwhelming majority of Labour Party members who, according to a June 2026 Survation poll, want more action to support peace between Palestinians and Israelis:
- 87% support banning trade with illegal settlements
- 78% support suspending all UK arms exports to Israel
- 68% support suspending the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement
- 62% are dissatisfied with the Government’s current approach
- 58% say that approach matters when choosing Labour’s leader
The Pledges on Palestine:
1. Ban all UK trade with illegal Israeli settlement goods and services
Settlement expansion is central to the annexation, displacement and fragmentation of the State of Palestine. The E1 plan is particularly significant because it would further sever East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and undermine territorial contiguity. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice found Israel’s continued presence in the territory of the State of Palestine to be unlawful and determined that other states must neither recognise nor assist the occupation, and must distinguish in their dealings between Israel and the territories occupied since 1967. A credible ban must therefore cover services and finance as well as goods, preventing British companies, charities, investors and professionals from sustaining or profiting from settlement activity.
This is not a ban on trade with Israel, but a legally required distinction between Israel and occupied territory of Palestine.
Immediate UK action:
- Ban the import of settlement goods and services, including financial, legal, insurance, tourism, digital and other professional services. Legislation has been introduced by Norway to introduce such a ban.
- Make it a criminal offence for British nationals, residents and legal entities to buy, market, finance or facilitate the purchase of settlement property.
- Penalise any bidder (including financial institutions) for E1 tenders or other settlement projects
2. Enforce International Law
Recognition of Palestine must have a practical effect: Palestinian jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank;
freedom of movement throughout the state; full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the blockade. UK policy must not contribute to annexation, apartheid, forcible transfer or ethnic cleansing. International Law requires action, not expressions of concern. The State of Palestine should be treated on the basis of parity of esteem with the State of Israel. The UK should publish a cross-Government plan to implement the ICJ’s July 2024 Advisory Opinion, comply with the Court’s Provisional Measures in the Genocide Convention case to prevent complicity in further genocidal acts, give effect to the ICJ’s October 2025 Opinion on humanitarian and UN operations, and cooperate fully with ICC arrest warrants.
Immediate UK action:
- Suspend all arms transfers to and from Israel, including through multinational programmes, and suspend military, intelligence, training and security cooperation pending compliance with international law.
- Suspend the UK–Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement while its human rights clause remains breached, and audit all bilateral cooperation in defence, trade, research, procurement and finance.
- Introduce targeted sanctions, modelled on the Russia sanctions regime, against individuals and entities responsible for occupation, annexation or grave violations of international law, and press for an end to the military detention of Palestinian children.
3. Ensure full humanitarian and reconstruction access:
Humanitarian access must be continuous, safe and at the scale required – not temporary, selective or controlled as a political lever.
All crossings and routes should be opened for food, fuel, medicines, shelter, water, sanitation equipment, communications, medical supplies and reconstruction materials. UNRWA has an indispensable mandated role, but the response must also enable other UN bodies, the ICRC (in line with judgements of the Israeli Supreme Court), and international and Palestinian NGOs to operate
freely. The ICJ addressed these obligations directly in its October 2025 Advisory Opinion. The UK has supported the full resumption of aid, Israeli withdrawal, Palestinian governance and Palestinian-led recovery in statements at the UN.
This now needs to be followed up with actions.
Immediate UK action:
- Build a coalition of willing allies around measurable access benchmarks, deadlines and automatic diplomatic, trade and sanctions consequences for continued obstruction.
- Fund Palestinian-led recovery through Palestinian institutions, municipalities and civil society, while sustaining UNRWA, other UN agencies and international NGOs and supporting free and fair elections in Palestine.
- Create family-reunification and medical evacuation routes, enabling Palestinians to study, work and receive specialist medical treatment in the UK while health and education services are rebuilt.
4. Open occupied Palestine, including Gaza, to journalists, politicians and investigators:
Independent scrutiny protects civilians by deterring abuse, preserving evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, sexual violence and genocide, and enabling governments and the public to test official claims. The UN Human Rights Office has documented Israel’s ban on independent international media access to Gaza alongside severe pressure on Palestinian journalists.
Military-organised visits, curated footage and remote briefings cannot substitute for free reporting. Access must also extend beyond the media. UK Parliamentarians, diplomats, humanitarian monitors, UN bodies, ICC investigators, forensic experts and independent human-rights organisations should be able to enter and move safely throughout Gaza, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank.
All authorities and armed groups, including the Palestinian Authority and the current de facto authorities in Gaza, must protect journalists and investigators and refrain from censorship, intimidation, detention or retaliation. The targeted killing of journalists must cease.
Immediate UK action:
- Demand safe, sustained and independent access for accredited international journalists, with guaranteed communications equipment and freedom of movement.
- Secure access for Parliamentarians, investigators and monitors, and ensure the preservation of sites, records and other potential evidence.
- Treat obstruction of access, attacks on journalists or retaliation against witnesses as grounds for diplomatic measures and targeted sanctions.
5. Act with allies to end unlawful regional occupations
Palestine cannot be separated from the wider regional crisis. Israeli forces have entered and continue to operate in parts of Lebanon and Syria beyond Israel’s internationally recognised borders. In June 2026, a senior UN official described Israel’s presence north of the Blue Line as a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. In Syria, the occupied Golan Heights and Israeli military activity beyond the 1974 Disengagement Agreement lines remain sources of instability and repeated international concern. The UK should work with the UN, European and Arab partners to secure withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory, including Gaza, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank; from occupied Syrian territory, including the Golan and areas entered beyond the 1974 lines; and from Lebanese territory. Security arrangements must not become a pathway to permanent occupation or annexation. Jerusalem also requires urgent protection. Amid growing pressure on Muslim and Christian holy sites and challenges to Jordan’s essential role, the UK should uphold the historic and legal status quo. Jordan’s special responsibility was recognised in the 1994 Israel–Jordan Peace Treaty and reaffirmed in the 2013 Jordan–Palestine agreement on Hashemite custodianship of Islamic and Christian holy sites.
Immediate UK action:
- Press for clear withdrawal timetables, support the UN Interim Force in Lebanon and United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in Syria, and concrete diplomatic, economic and legal measures against occupation or annexation.
- Oppose further invasions, military strikes and unilateral territorial changes in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, while supporting effective security guarantees for all states and peoples in the region.
- Defend Jordan’s custodianship, the historic status quo, freedom of worship and access to Jerusalem’s holy sites, and reject any unilateral attempt to alter established arrangements.
- You can follow CAABU on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
- This statement was taken from a newsletter sent by Caabu on 21 June 2026.
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