112 Parliamentarians, including 19 Lib Dem MPs and Peers, have this week sent a letter to the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Attorney General, calling on the Government to fulfil its promise to formally respond to the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinion on Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory. The letter states that the UK’s obligations under the ruling are immediate and “crystal clear,” warning that continued delays place the Government in breach of its legal obligations.
Issued almost exactly a year ago, the ICJ ruling found that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory (including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem) is unlawful, and declared that all states are obliged not to recognise or assist the occupation in any way. The ruling places concrete obligations on the UK, including to abstain from entering economic relations that help entrench Israel’s unlawful presence, and to ban all forms of trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
When the ruling was issued, the Government acknowledged its central findings and promised to respond in due course. But in the year since, it has chosen to deflect and delay, relying on procedural excuses and taking no meaningful steps to implement its obligations. The letter sent this week reflects growing cross-party concern that the UK’s failure to respond constitutes a serious breach of its responsibilities under international law. The letter urges ministers to honour their commitments, set out clearly the measures that will now be taken, and demonstrate that the UK will not continue to act as an enabler of persistent violations.
While the UK Government continues to stall, the unlawful occupation has only deepened. In the West Bank, Israel has expanded its illegal settlement project, with 57 new settlements and outposts established between November 2023 and October 2024. This has been accompanied by a sharp rise in state‑backed settler violence, record numbers of home demolitions, and the ongoing forced dispossession of entire villages. Yet the UK continues to permit trade with illegal settlements and allows the import of goods produced on stolen land, indirectly helping to sustain the economic infrastructure of occupation. Equally disturbing, documents published this week show that two UK charities have funnelled millions of pounds into illegal Israeli settlements, all while benefiting from tax relief. That such activity is not only permitted but effectively subsidised by the British taxpayer highlights just how far the UK has drifted from its stated commitment to international law.
In Gaza, Israel’s assault has been marked by systematic war crimes: the deliberate targeting of civilians, journalists, healthcare workers and aid convoys; the use of starvation as a weapon of war; and now a detailed plan to forcibly confine the population and carry out ethnic cleansing. The ICJ ruling applies to Gaza as part of the occupied Palestinian territory, and the UK is therefore under a clear legal obligation to withhold all forms of support that entrench Israel’s unlawful occupation of the Strip. Yet by continuing to provide arms and military assistance, the UK is not only helping to deepen Israel’s occupation but also implicating itself in the war crimes used to sustain it.
One year after the ICJ ruling, the facts are clear, and so, too, are the UK’s obligations. When the Government chooses not to enforce measures against an ally, it undermines the entire system of international law, signalling that legal obligations can be set aside when politically inconvenient. As the cross‑party letter rightly makes clear, the Government must immediately publish its response and take decisive measures to end UK complicity. Anything less would confirm that the UK’s commitment to the rule of law is conditional and further erode the credibility of a system that is meant to protect the rights of all.
* Lucia Messent is the Policy Officer for Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine.