Good Afternoon,

Here follows the latest edition of my newsletter on the situation in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the wider Middle East region. Parliament is now in summer recess, and I wanted to take the opportunity to update you on some of the developments in this region since my last update, which you can read here, as well as the actions I have been taking on these matters as your local MP. 

If you are new to my updates, then you can read previous editions from May 2025 (here), July 2025 (here), September 2025 (here and here), October 2025 (here), December 2025 (here and here), March 2026 (here), and May 2026 (here). 

The situation in Iran looks no closer to a resolution than it did when the United States and Israel launched strikes against the Iranian regime on 28th February 2026 – almost 5 months ago. 

I remain grateful to our outgoing Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, for keeping our country out of this dreadful conflict.

Since then, global trade has been significantly disrupted, with Iran recently declaring the Strait of Hormuz as closed (read more here), and stability in the region has been disastrously undermined. Meanwhile, Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in South Lebanon have left at least 4,175 Lebanese citizens dead since, along with 1.2 million people internally displaced in the country. 

I echo the Government’s statement last month, that “progress [on securing peace in the region] is being undermined by both Hezbollah and Israel” and that the Israeli military’s action in Southern Lebanon is clearly a “disproportionate escalation” and called on Hezbollah to “end [its] attacks and disarm”. You can read the Government’s statements here and here, and find out more about the UK Government’s £43m commitment of humanitarian aid to the situation in Lebanon by clicking here. 

Despite the ‘ceasefire’ announcement in October 2025, Israeli military operations and air strikes have continued in Gaza, leading to ongoing casualties and further damage to civilian infrastructure, particularly in areas under Israeli control.

Since the beginning of 2026, about 850 Palestinians have been injured in the context of settler attacks, including nearly 690 by Israeli settlers and the remainder by Israeli forces, accounting for 55 per cent of all Palestinian injuries in the West Bank. Injuries linked to settler attacks have risen sharply, increasing from one injury every three days in 2020 to an average of two per day in 2025 and more than three per day so far in 2026.



Not only is this violence a gross violation of international law, but it also amounts to a direct threat to the two-state solution – a solution which you can read more about here. 

As I covered in my last update, which you can find here, I asked an Urgent Question in the House of Commons on Wednesday 1 July on whether the Government would make a statement on Israel’s planned illegal expansion in the E1 zone in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.



Since that question, I also attended the Back Bench Business Debate put forward by my excellent colleague, Abtisam Mohamed MP (Sheffield Central), on a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

Having received more than 80 emails about this debate and seen the extent of settler violence during a recent visit I made to Israel and Palestine, which I will speak further on in the coming weeks, I attended the debate.

Although I was not selected to deliver a speech during the debate, despite bobbing for more than two hours, I did get the opportunity to ask the outgoing Minister whether his department (Department for Business & Trade) would consider a ban on dual-use goods that are being used to aid the erasure of the Palestinian people.

You can read the full debate in Hansard here or watch the full debate on Parliament.tv here. You can also watch my question below:

During the debate, it was welcoming to hear that this Labour Government is working to ban goods and services exports to and imports from Israeli settlements, saying that there is a "very strong" moral and legal argument for such a prohibition.



More recently, I have been pressing major supermarkets in the UK to review and rescind their purchasing of goods from Israeli settlements, including those distributed via another country, as I outlined in my update in May (which you can read here).

I have since met with representatives from Sainsbury’s and will continue to engage with them to ensure that no products from illegal Israeli settlements are available to the British public. As I have been advised, given the commercial sensitivity associated with the supermarket’s contracts, I am unable to provide a detailed update in this newsletter, but I hope to share further information on my work in this area in the near future. 

As I have done in my previous updates, I would like to share with you the most recent list of correspondence I have had with the Government, which I have not covered above or I have received a response since the previous newsletters.

Please click on the links below to read more:

Will you sign the Early Day Motion (EDM), tabled by Apsana Begum MP, calling for an end to public contracts with companies supplying Israel with technology used in its crimes against Palestinians, such as Cisco Systems, Oracle and Palantir. 

Although I no longer sign EDMs, as I do not believe they are an effective parliamentary mechanism for change, I have recently written to the Minister of State for Defence Readiness & Industry, to question the UK Government’s licensing scheme. You can read that letter here. 

As I have mentioned in previous updates, I have continued to hold the UK Government to account on the legal, trading and military relationships it holds with the Israeli Government. 

This Labour Government has taken stringent measures to penalise and deter the Israeli Government in its efforts to destroy the Palestinian way of life (e.g. sanctions and suspensions to free trade agreements). But it must go further and faster. Therefore, I will consider the position put forward in the EDM in my discussions with Government ministers. 

Will you call on the UK Government to act to end Israel’s detention of Gazan medic and hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safiya? 

In December 2024, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya was detained in Gaza and taken to Sde Teiman military detention centre and later transferred to Ofer Prison.

Since then, his lawyer states that he has been tortured by the Israeli military and refused medical treatment and access to legal support. I remain concerned about his ongoing detention, as well as the detention of many other medical professionals from Gaza. It is worrying to read the recent reports from the United Nations, which you can read here, that he has been subjected to severe torture.

I know the Minister has raised the case with both the Israeli Ambassador to the UK and the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister. Israel must clarify the reasons for his detention, as well as those for the detention of paediatrician Mohammed Hamouda and all the other health workers detained in Gaza. They must also allow the International Committee of the Red Cross unfettered and immediate access to detention facilities.

Gazan civilians must be protected and able to access effective healthcare. I am very concerned about the impact of the conflict on Gaza’s healthcare system and medical staff. It is unacceptable that many medical facilities are no longer in use or are inaccessible to humanitarian workers.

The UK will continue to support the provision of essential healthcare to civilians in Gaza, despite the clear efforts of Netanyahu’s government to destroy health infrastructure that Palestinians so dearly rely on. This includes support to UK-Med for operating its field hospitals and to the Egyptian Ministry of Health to support medically evacuated Palestinians from Gaza.

Will you call on the UK Government to suspend all UK export licences that facilitate Britain’s complicity in the Gaza genocide?

As I mentioned in my answer to FAQ #1 I have, and will continue to, press this Government to review its trading relationships with the Israeli Government. As I did during my time on the Department for Business & Trade Select Committee (find out more here) and in my ongoing engagements with Ministers in the DBT and the FCDO, I will continue to do so.

Since October last year, over 900 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed. 1.9 million Palestinians also remain displaced and dependent on humanitarian aid; families are without shelter and there is a public health crisis in Gaza. Yet the amount of aid entering Gaza is down, with barely half the level of the 4200 trucks promised in the peace plan entering. This is only worsened by Israel’s registration law (which is restricting the operation of international NGOs) and the closure of key crossings.

Whilst I recognise the genocidal actions of Netanyahu’s Israeli Government against the people of Palestine, and it is clear and obvious effort to obliterate Palestinians from Palestine, it is not for the UK Government to determine genocide. This is the responsibility of a competent court. At this stage, no competent court has made a final determination, although some courts have made provisional findings, I know that the UK will abide by these. The Government takes its commitments under international law, including the Genocide Convention, extremely seriously.

Why did the UK Government bar Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur from entering the UK? 

I understand that Cenk Uygur, the host of the Young Turks online political talk show, and Hasan Piker, who runs his own streaming channel, were both due to appear at SXSW London. However, the Home Office decided to cancel their electronic travel authorisations because their presence in the UK ‘may not be conducive to the public good’.

Free speech and the right to protest are fundamental to our democracy. I fully support both, and I share the Government’s commitment to ensuring people are free to gather and express their views. However, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and no one should intimidate or infringe upon the freedoms of others.

Free speech in this country has deep historical roots but was not enshrined in UK law until the Human Rights Act in 1998. Article 10 of the Human Rights Act states that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, but that this may be subject to conditions in the interests of national security, public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, or to protect the rights of others. 

Between 1 January 2024 and 11 June 2026, I am aware that 2,640 people have been refused an Electronic Travel Authorisation on the basis that their presence in the United Kingdom is not conducive to the public good.

Although the Home Office does not comment on cases in such instances, I understand that Hasan and Cenk had made pro-Hamas comments and antisemitic remarks.

It is important that all communities can live free from fear and harassment, and I am concerned about any antisemitic actions which target the Jewish community here in the UK. Antisemitism has no place in our society, and that extremism must be taken seriously.

I am glad the Government remains committed to carefully considering how best to protect individuals and communities from hate, while balancing the need to protect the fundamental right to free speech.

FINALLY...

I am immensely thankful for your continued engagement with me on these matters. I would like to reassure you that all correspondence is read and considered ahead of related parliamentary or constituency activities.

As always, if I have missed any topics or areas of concern in this edition, please let me know so I can cover them next time.

Kind regards,

Matt Western

MP for Warwick and Leamington