The Israel-Gaza Conflict – an immediate bilateral ceasefire and securing two states

Emergency policy motion

As passed by Liberal Democrat conference on Monday 16 September 2024

Submitted by: 10 party members
Mover: Layla Moran MP (Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs)
Summation: Lord Purvis

Conference notes:

  1. The ongoing humanitarian devastation in Gaza, where now over 40,000 Palestinians are now estimated to have been killed and vast numbers have life changing injuries.
  2. That almost one year on from the deplorable 7 October terrorist attacks which killed over 1,100, many survivors are traumatised including by the use of sexual violence and there remains an ongoing hostage situation, with over 100 Israelis still held by Hamas.
  3. The clear risk of escalation across the region, with increased tensions in August 2024 raising concerns about a regional war, and increased violence in the West Bank in the context of ongoing trauma to the Palestinian people.
  4. The role of Iran, which continues to destabilise the region including via its Revolutionary Guards, its supply of arms to its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, and the military responses which it threatens against Israel.
  5. Ongoing cases at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and the UK’s Government’s July 2024 decision to stop potential arrest warrants which the ICC might issue, including against Israeli PM Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
  6. The ICJ’s advisory opinion in July 2024 that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal.
  7. The millions who have been displaced by this ongoing conflict since October 7, with almost 2 million displaced in Gaza, around 135,000 Israelis displaced from Northern and Southern Israel, and over 1,000 Palestinians fleeing their homes in the West Bank in the face of spiking settler violence.
  8. The conflict’s impact in the UK, and applauds the work done by NGOs, faith groups, local authorities and others to combat unacceptable race and hate crime including against Jews, Israelis, Muslims and Palestinians, and to bring people together rather than divide them in the face of community tensions.

Conference believes that:

  1. Only a political and diplomatic solution, not a military one, will resolve this conflict, get Hamas out of power and deliver a lasting peace.
  2. A two-state solution is the only way to deliver the dignity and security which Palestinians and Israelis deserve.
  3. An immediate bilateral ceasefire is desperately needed, to resolve the humanitarian devastation in Gaza, get the hostages home and provide space to secure a two-state solution.

Conference accordingly reaffirms:

  1. The Autumn 2021 Federal Conference motion F39, Towards a Lasting Peace.
  2. The Liberal Democrats’ commitment to a two-state solution in which Israel and Palestine both exist with secure boundaries based on 1967 lines.

Conference calls on the UK Government to:

  1. Work to bring about an immediate bilateral ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict, including:
    1. Demanding the unconditional release of the remaining hostages.
    2. Pressing for more access for humanitarian aid and essential supplies into Gaza.
    3. Providing all necessary assistance, including aid, to UNRWA to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and ensure that the recommendations of the independent Colonna report are implemented as quickly as possible, thereby assuring that all work to support Palestinians in Gaza is of the highest possible standards and integrity.
  2. Uphold the role of international law and international courts, including respecting in full the ICJ advisory opinion that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and upholding its findings, and accordingly:
    1. Introduce legislation to cease trade with illegal Israeli settlements in occupied territories.
    2. Work to reduce heightened tensions in the West Bank, and accordingly including connected entities in the scope of sanctions against anyone in the settler movement that uses or incites violence, building on the work of the US and EU.
    3. Work to end the use of arbitrary administrative detention of Palestinians by the IDF.
  3. Enacting a presumption of denial for arms exports to governments listed by the Foreign Office as human rights priorities, and therefore immediately suspending arms exports to Israel, in accordance with similar decisions taken by previous UK governments of all political parties.
  4. Recognising the existential threat of Iran not just in the Middle East but to Western democracies, by:
    1. Proscribing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
    2. Conducting an audit of UK-based assets owned by Iranian officials, in order to freeze those assets.
  5. Press for a two-state solution, including by:
    1. Immediately recognising the state of Palestine.
    2. Working with the peace-builders in Israel and Palestine who call for two-states, to wrestle control away from the extremes.
    3. Working with the international community to identify future democratic leaders of Palestine, with a view to having swift elections in Palestine as soon as possible in the hope of uniting Gaza and the West Bank under one democratically elected voice.
    4. Investing in peace, such as via the International Fund for Middle East Peace, and using trade as a tool for peace, ensuring that Palestinians and Israelis benefit.

Conference further calls on Liberal Democrats to engage with all their ALDE and Liberal International sister parties to secure a two-state solution based on 1967 lines in the region, including Israel’s Yesh Atid party.

Applicability: Federal.