Dear Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary
Your government must use all its influence and powers to support the peace process and ensure that Israel has not destroyed Gaza and the West Bank
Once again WILPF UK (the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom) must raise our concerns about Palestine and Israel. The international community has granted Israel decades of impunity since the beginning of its occupation of Palestinian land. Despite the “ceasefire” we have seen this continue throughout this last year of escalated violence and forced displacement.
While the international community fails to take action on Palestine, Israel is accelerating the establishment of illegal settlements in the West Bank. It now plans a ‘bypass’ road for the use of Israelis only, that will close off the core of the occupied West Bank and its roads to Palestinians. This is an area vital for the establishment of a future Palestinian state. The road is planned to lead to a large settlement, Ma’ale Adumim, to expand further and link to Jerusalem.
Israeli authorities also propose to approve 9,000 ‘settlement units’ on the site of the former Jerusalem airport, and a project in Sheikh Jarrah to displace 40 families. These plans will massively expand the area of Jerusalem, bisecting the West Bank and further undermining the possibility of a two-state solution. It will make it impossible to establish East Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state.
Having driven Palestinians out of the area, Israeli settlers have now taken control of an area of land, approximately 100 square miles, where some Palestinians recently lived and where Bedouin tribes formerly grazed their herds. In doing so they have destroyed olive trees, pastures and a precious seed bank.
In addition to the pressure on UNRWA, depriving it of access to water, power and communications, as you will know, Israel also announced on 30 December 2025 a new regulation banning 37 international NGOs – including ActionAid, International Rescue Committee, Médecins Sans Frontières and Medical Aid for Palestinians –from operating in Gaza and the West Bank. UN experts say that the ban makes life unbearable for genocide survivors in Palestine.
All this is taking place while Israel continues its deadly attacks on Gaza, in defiance of the so-called ceasefire and the global community continues to fail to act. What chance is there for Trump’s newly created Gaza “board of peace”, a body he claims will steer the next phase of reconstruction and governance in the war-ravaged territory (though without any Palestinians or women included)? The omission of women is particularly relevant given the anniversary of UN Resolution 1325 on the involvement of women in peace-making and peace-building.
Why is the UK not taking action rather than just mouthing words in response to these breaches of international law? Especially in light of the recent visit of UN Secretary General António Guterres where you reiterated the UK’s “enduring support for the UN and the international rules-based system”?
- WILPF urges the UK government to use all possible means to protect and facilitate unhindered humanitarian access into Gaza and to condemn the banning of humanitarian organisations in Gaza and the West Bank.
- WILPF urges the UK government to make clear to “friends” in Israel to stop taking over the West Bank, a move which is destroying Palestinian families and livelihoods and will prevent any hope of a two-state solution.
- WILPF urges the UK government to press for the release of Marwan Barghouti, imprisoned for 23 years in Israel. He is said to be Palestine’s most popular leader, a powerful symbol of unity and a long-time advocate from the Palestinian Authority for freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people.
If the UK is serious about recognition of a Palestinian state then your government must use all its influence and powers to support the peace process and ensure that Israel has not destroyed Gaza and the West Bank.
Yours in peace
