Senior Labour MP Leads Cross-Party Push for UK Sanctions on Israel Over Gaza Military Actions

Senior Labour MP Richard Burgon has led a cross-party push in the UK calling for comprehensive sanctions on Israel, arguing that only wide-ranging economic and diplomatic penalties can halt what he calls a ‘Gaza genocide’ and prevent de facto annexation of the West Bank.

“Creating new perspectives since 2009 March 11, 2026 at 7:01 pm Protesters called for “an end to the occupation and a halt to arms sales to Israel” during the national march organized in London by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in London, United Kingdom on November 29, 2025”

Middle East Monitor

Burgon announced that more than 60 parliamentarians have formally backed a parliamentary motion demanding a significant shift in UK policy, and he explicitly wrote on social media: “After the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli government is moving to annex the West Bank. Only sanctions – on arms, trade, the economy & Israeli officials – can stop these war crimes.”

Middle East Monitor

Protesters have similarly demanded “an end to the occupation and a halt to arms sales to Israel” at national marches in London, underscoring public pressure behind the parliamentary effort.

The parliamentary motion grounds its demands in international law, citing a statement backed by 85 UN member states and the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The motion says the ICJ found Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory unlawful and ordered an end to that presence and all new settlement activity.

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It stresses that the ICJ’s opinion requires states — including the UK — to refrain from recognising or assisting the unlawful situation, and to take steps to prevent economic or trade activity that entrenches Israeli control over occupied territory.

Supporters of the motion explicitly compare the UK’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, arguing Britain has already imposed widespread sanctions in that case but has failed to apply similar measures over Israel’s actions in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank.

“Creating new perspectives since 2009 March 11, 2026 at 7:01 pm Protesters called for “an end to the occupation and a halt to arms sales to Israel” during the national march organized in London by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in London, United Kingdom on November 29, 2025”

Middle East Monitor

The motion therefore urges the government to meet what it frames as its legal obligations under international law by banning trade and investment linked to illegal settlements.

It calls for adopting targeted measures on arms, trade and officials that supporters say are necessary to stop continuing war crimes.

The motion highlights a sharp escalation of violence in the West Bank since October 2023, alleging that Israeli forces and illegal settlers have carried out killings, arrests, destruction of property, home demolitions, displacement and settlement expansion.

The article reports hard figures cited in the motion and wider campaign: at least 1,121 Palestinians killed, 11,700 injured and nearly 22,000 arrested.

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Supporters say these statistics demonstrate both the human cost and the risk that these abuses will be used to justify formal annexation and the effective end of a Palestinian state.

Backers of the sanctions motion frame their campaign as both a legal duty and a practical response to continuing abuses, demanding a ban on economic relations with settlements, restrictions on arms sales, and targeted measures against officials.

“Creating new perspectives since 2009 March 11, 2026 at 7:01 pm Protesters called for “an end to the occupation and a halt to arms sales to Israel” during the national march organized in London by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in London, United Kingdom on November 29, 2025”

Middle East Monitor

The motion and related public protests — which called for an end to the occupation and a halt to arms sales — aim to push the UK government to translate the ICJ’s advisory opinion and international pressure into concrete punitive steps rather than rhetoric.

Middle East Monitor