UK pledges tougher stance on Israeli actions in Gaza, West Bank

What the report says

Britain’s government is signaling a tougher policy toward Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera’s report on remarks by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on September 28, 2026. Miliband said the government would “match word with action” in defending Palestinian rights and framed the situation in the Palestinian territories as deeply damaging to the world’s conscience.

In the speech, Miliband said the UK would introduce additional sanctions and restrict economic ties linked to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The measures he described included banning imports from illegal settlements and limiting British financial, construction and services links to those areas. He also said Labour had reset its approach under Prime Minister Andy Burnham and would oppose steps that threaten the prospect of a Palestinian state.

The report says the announcement follows earlier UK action this month to ban imports of goods produced by illegal settlements, described as London’s most significant policy move on the issue since recognizing Palestinian statehood last year. Al Jazeera also noted criticism of the government for maintaining links to Israel and for its handling of pro-Palestinian protesters, after arrests outside the conference in Liverpool.

More broadly, the article places the move in the context of growing international concern over settlement expansion, including the E1 project east of Jerusalem, which critics say could divide the West Bank.