Good Afternoon,

Earlier today, in an Urgent Question I raised in the House of Commons, I asked the Government whether it would make a statement on Israel’s planned illegal expansion in the E1 zone in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

You can watch and read my question below: 

Urgent Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs if she will make a statement on Israel’s planned illegal expansion in the E1 zone in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Mr Speaker.

Just yesterday, the Israeli Land Authority published new dates for the tenders for the construction of the proposed E1 Settlement Zone in the West Bank.

The bidding period for the tender ends in October. And once the contracts have been awarded, it will become impossible to stop E1.

Mr Speaker - Why is E1 so critical?

Because the proposed settlement would absolutely and permanently destroy any prospect of a true two-state solution.

It is a large area of land which would split the West Bank from North to South, severing connections between Palestinian communities and East Jerusalem while forcibly transferring 7,000 Palestinians, itself a war crime under the Rome Statute.

A few of us visited just 4 weeks ago. We saw first-hand the accelerated pace at which Israel is expanding its illegal settlements. A massive 2,000 housing units have been approved since then, according to the UK Chargé d’Affaires to the UN on Monday.

It is clear: Israel is systematically and deliberately doing all it can to make a two-state solution impossible.

And its impunity must end.

Mr Speaker. Will the Minister today make clear that any businesses, including financial and insurance institutions, or individuals, that participate in or facilitate the construction of the E1 Zone will be sanctioned and not allowed to trade and do business here in the UK and legislate accordingly as a matter of urgency.

Secondly, I, alongside 139 parliamentary colleagues, have urged the Minister to end all trading with illegal Israeli settlements.

Can I once again urge the Minister to implement a full ban and suspend the FTA with Israel based on continued violations of human rights and the prospect of this development.

Mr Speaker. Palestine is fracturing before our eyes and our intelligence can see this.

The international community must stop E1.

In the questions that followed, the Minister announced that the Government is seriously considering a ban on trade with illegal settlements. This is welcome and I believe the Minister - who is a good person - now recognises the urgency of this matter, as my colleagues and I made clear to him today.

The full transcript will soon be published on Hansard, which you can find here. Should you wish to watch the question in full, you can do so here.

If we are serious about a two-state solution, which the UK clearly is after formally recognising the Palestinian State last year, we must absolutely stand firm against these plans.

If we do not, in the words of far-right Israeli Minister Smotrich, these settlement plans will “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”. This would be horrifying for those of us who desperately want to see a safe and secure two-state solution.

The plans would deliberately and permanently divide a Palestinian state in two, severing communities and forcibly transferring thousands of Palestinians, many of whom are UN-registered refugees.

This would be ILLEGAL under the Rome Statute, as the UK Government has rightly pointed out. The international community must be unequivocal in making that clear to the Israeli Government.  

This is a critical juncture for Parliament, the UK Government and the International Community. As your Parliamentary representative, I will continue to support an end to violence in Gaza, the West Bank and the wider region. 

Kind regards, 

Matt Western 

MP for Warwick and Leamington