The UK faces intensified legal pressure to widen sanctions after more than 130 senior lawyers told Prime Minister Andy Burnham the measures announced so far do not satisfy obligations arising from the International Court of Justice’s 2024 advisory opinion.
The letter, signed by over 130 counsels and 18 king’s counsel, including Michael Mansfield KC, Imran Khan KC and former lord justice of appeal Alan Moses, argues that the government’s recent ban on imports from Israeli settlements is a necessary step but insufficient. The signatories say the ICJ’s ruling that the occupation is unlawful and must end “as rapidly as possible” imposes a broader duty on other states not to recognise or assist the occupation.
Signatories called for a suite of additional measures, among them a full arms embargo and an extension of sanctions to insurance, accountancy services and digital infrastructure. They also want a public assurance that no UK public body, pension scheme or sovereign fund holds investments tied to settlements. The letter contends the current approach is improperly narrow when compared with sanctions applied to Russia, which target wider economic networks that support unlawful conduct.
Ralph Wilde, a signatory and professor of international law at University College London, welcomed the government’s recognition that the occupation is illegal but said the UK has special duties to take more comprehensive action to end the occupation and other alleged unlawful conduct, including what the signatories describe as genocide in Gaza.
The sanctions announced by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband included an import ban on goods from illegal settlements and other steps Miliband said would protect the two-state solution. A government spokesperson described the package as the biggest reset in the UK’s approach to that aim and said ministers have acted to support accountability and galvanise international partners.
Israel has rejected the UK measures. Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar called the statements “outrageous lies” and accused the UK government of “systematically working against the state of Israel.” The sanctions followed rising settler attacks in the West Bank and an Israeli tender for 1,200 homes in the E1 settlement east of Jerusalem, a project critics say could fragment the West Bank and threaten the viability of a future Palestinian state.
The letter was sent to the prime minister on Tuesday. The government will now face pressure to state whether it will expand its restrictions to arms, financial and technical services and to declare the status of public investments tied to settlements, steps that could deepen diplomatic and economic consequences for UK, Israel ties.
