Statement on Gaza: July 2025

Thank you for writing to me about the situation in the Middle East.  
 
Due to the amount of correspondence I receive relating to Gaza and the Middle East, I am once again sending a comprehensive response to all my constituents who have written in to share their concerns, as I have done previously.  This email may therefore cover topics that you did not mention, but I hope they are of interest and importance to you.   
 
I have chosen to send this single standard response for speed because otherwise it would take a very long time to reply individually to every email on this issue. But please be assured that my team always read all the emails that we have received on this issue and the content of those has informed what I have included.
  
The situation in Gaza: 

I’m utterly appalled to see what’s happening in Gaza. The Netanyahu Government’s comprehensive aid blockade - and its expanded military action in the Strip - are unacceptable and a clear breach of international law. 

The indiscriminate killing of Palestinians who are desperately queuing for food is truly abhorrent. I asked the Foreign Secretary whether he thinks the UK has done everything possible to bring this suffering to an end: 

“Yesterday, it was reported, as hon. Members will be aware, that at least 93 Palestinians were shot and killed while queuing for GHF-distributed food because they and their families are being starved to death. The fact that GHF stands for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation smacks of an Orwellian doublespeak which I find profoundly disturbing. The Foreign Secretary must surely agree that the current system of aid distribution headed by the GHF is both unsafe and grossly inadequate. Is the Secretary of State content that Britain is doing all it can to ensure it is not complicit in the grotesque use of starvation as a tool of war?” 

You can watch this moment, and the Secretary of State’s response, here. 

Trade of settlement goods: 

I recently raised the issue of ceasing trade in settlement goods during a debate on the West Bank. You can read my question here.

What the Lib Dems are doing: 

As this humanitarian crisis in Gaza has deepened, we’ve been the most vocal party in pushing the Government to apply more and genuine pressure to Netanyahu’s Cabinet. 

We were the first to call for the sanctioning of the far-right extremist Israeli Ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich - who have consistently called for the forced dispossession of Palestinians - 15 months ahead of the UK Government finally taking this step. 

Our Party Leader, Ed Davey, used the first Prime Minister’s Questions after the 2024 General Election to call on Sir Keir Starmer to uphold the ICJ’s ruling on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories as illegal, and the final set of PMQs before this Summer Recess to call for Prime Minister Netanyahu to be sanctioned. 

Ed Davey also led an Early Day Motion - signed by every single Liberal Democrat MP - calling for the sanctioning of any Israeli Cabinet Minister who continued to support the aid blockade and expanded military action in Gaza. 

Ed Davey and our Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Calum Miller wrote to the Foreign Secretary David Lammy - with the support of all 72 Liberal Democrat MPs - calling for the Government to immediately recognise a state of Palestine. 

Back in January 2024, the International Court of Justice said there was a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza. Since then, things have only got worse. We have seen the destruction of most occupied territory in the strip and the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. At the same time, the IDF has issued displacement orders to Gazans. 

Since March 2025, a full aid blockade has been in place and now we hear the Israeli Defence Minister saying that he wants to imprison Gazans in a new compound near Rafah City. If realised, this plan would amount to ethnic cleansing, as the former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert has said. 

I agree with Tom Fletcher, the UN Humanitarian chief, that we should uphold international law and be consistent across all parties. It is right that Hamas is recognised as a terrorist organisation, and everything is done to secure the unconditional release of the hostages and the holding to account of those responsible for the atrocities of 7 October 2023. However, the Israeli Cabinet should be subject to the same standards of international law. Its actions amount to collective punishment of the Palestinian people which is a war crime. 

On the determination of genocide: 

The initial opinion of the ICJ says that genocide may be taking place. That places obligations on the UK government to take action to prevent that from happening. We do not believe it is doing enough. Lib Dems have consistently pressed the government to do more. This includes: a full ban on all military exports to Israel, the banning of all illegal settlement goods, the recognition of the state of Palestine, the sanctioning of those Israeli politicians – including Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Katz – who have advocated plans for ethnic cleansing in Gaza and allowing full access to Gaza and the West Bank to journalists and those collecting evidence of human rights abuses. 

Wider Lib Dem efforts to pressure the UK Government on Gaza: 

In the House of Commons on Wednesday 16 July, it was Ed Davey who called out Netanyahu’s plan to create a guarded compound for all Gazans near Rafah. He called on Keir Starmer to sanction Netanyahu for this plan for ethnic cleansing. 

In June, all 72 Lib Dem MPs called for the recognition of Palestine – as a means to stop illegal settlements in the West Bank and the destruction of Gaza, and to show the UK’s commitment to Palestinians right to self-determination. 

We continue to press the government to respect the ICJ opinion on plausible genocide by ceasing all arms sales to Israel. 
 
I hope this email addresses some of the concerns you have raised and I will endeavour to keep you informed on this issue. 
 
Kind regards, 

Alison