Hi John,
Despite the supposed ceasefire, Israel has just cut off electricity to Gaza, which will have a devastating impact on the supply of clean water. It has already cut off humanitarian aid. Once again Israel is using starvation and siege as a weapon of war.(1)
In response, the UK has issued diplomatic entreaties for Israel to change course. It’s a familiar pattern where ministers state “concern” in response to Israel’s blatant violations of international law, but fail to take meaningful action that could put real pressure on Israel’s government.(2)
We cannot allow our government to get away with this – inaction is complicity. Today, we’re expanding our call for the UK to apply significant trade sanctions on Israel, beginning with the parts of its economy that are most complicit in violations of international law.
Will you write to the trade secretary and add your name to this call?
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The first step in these sanctions must be stopping all trade and investment in Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank – allowing business with them directly assists the theft of Palestinian land.(3)
The UK government must also shelve its plans for a new trade deal with Israel, not least because one of its central negotiating aims is to build closer links with Israel’s technology sector, huge parts of which have deep links to the military.(4)
Further, measures targeting individual firms – Israeli or otherwise – that are involved in the occupation or the attacks on Gaza are clearly necessary if we are to ensure the UK is not supporting these crimes. Trade deals which offer Israel preferential terms and diplomatic support must also be suspended until these violations end.
These should not be controversial demands. The International Court of Justice has made clear that states must prevent any trade with Israel that assists its illegal occupation. And Israel’s actions make similarly clear that it will continue on a path of devastation unless there is outside intervention.(5)
Encouragingly, Ireland has already said it will ban imports from Israel’s illegal settlements and Colombia has ended fuel exports to Israel. It is time for other countries to join them.(6)
Can you take action now?
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This will need to be a broad and international movement. Whichever countries move next to sanction Israel, it will only be possible if we force this change from below. I hope you will join us in making this call – and support campaigners around the world demanding the same.
Thanks for all you are doing,
Tim Bierley
Campaigner at Global Justice Now
P.S. If you would like to read more about trade sanctions, we've published a new briefing on the UK's economic relationship with Israel – and how we need to change it. You can read it here.
Notes
1. Israel cuts off electricity supply to Gaza, minister says, BBC, 9 March 2025. Statement from Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) on Israel's decision to cut electricity supplies to Gaza, Relief Web, 11 March 2025.
2. UK ‘deeply concerned’ after Israel cuts off electricity supply to Gaza, The National, 10 March 2025.
3. Occupation, Inc.: How Settlement Businesses Contribute to Israel’s Violations of Palestinian Rights, Human Rights Watch, 19 January 2016.
4. How Britain’s trade relations with Israel risk fuelling war crimes, Global Justice Now, 20 February 2025.
5. Legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (pdf), International Court of Justice, 19 July 2024.
6. Colombia halts coal exports to Israel in protest against war in Gaza, Financial Times, 8 June 2024. Ireland could ban trade with Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories, NPR, 19 February 2025.
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