Leading humanitarian and human rights groups urged the UK government to halt deal “until widespread and systematic violations of international law are brought to an end”
Keir Starmer is being urged to suspend a trade deal with Israel over a new “discriminatory” death penalty law.
Leading charities are calling on the UK government to halt the agreement “until widespread and systematic violations of international law are brought to an end”. Oxfam UK and ActionAid UK are among those lobbying for the move after Israel’s parliament last month passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis.
The bill’s passage marked the culmination of a far-right drive to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offences against Israelis.
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ActionAid’s Jamil Sawalmeh told the Mirror: “For Palestinians, this is just another step in a long systematic process of assault on every aspect of Palestinian life… The recent bill passed in the Israeli Knesset is outrageous, yet not really surprising to Palestinians who already saw the legalisation of many other outrageous actions such as land confiscation and land registration in the West Bank, [as well as] arbitrary and punitive house demolitions.”
Humanitarian and human rights groups branded the legislation “discriminatory by design, and applicable primarily, if not exclusively, to Palestinians in practice”. They included War on Want, Human Rights Watch, Amos Trust, Council for Arab British Understanding, Global Legal Action Network and Medical Aid for Palestinians.
A joint statement said: “This is yet another grave and dangerous escalation of the Israeli government’s systematic assault on Palestinian life and rights, particularly in the occupied Palestinian territory. As humanitarian, human rights, and environmental justice organisations in the UK, working in and on Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, we urge the UK government to do everything in its power to push for the repeal of this discriminatory law and for the State of Israel to comply with international law.
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“The bill imposes the death penalty within the military court system in the occupied Palestinian territory, with Israeli citizens and residents explicitly excluded. While Israeli settlers are tried in civilian courts, military jurisdiction applies exclusively to Palestinians.” They add: “We call on the UK government to take the following steps… Suspend the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement by invoking Israel’s material breach of its human rights clause – an essential element of this agreement – until widespread and systematic violations of international law are brought to an end.”
They are also asking for the government to “urgently implement the ICJ’s July 2024 advisory opinion and end the UK’s complicity in the Israeli government’s unlawful occupation and violations of international law” and “actively support Palestinian and Israeli civil society organisations”.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu came to the Knesset, the country’s Parliament, to vote for the bill in person. It makes the death penalty by hanging the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted over nationalistic killings. The law also gives Israeli courts option to impose the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted on similar charges. But experts have said the language effectively confines those who can be sentenced to death to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens. It does not apply retroactively to any prisoners Israel already held including the Hamas-led militants who carried out the October 7 attack in 2023 which triggered the war in Gaza.
Before the vote, Israel’s far-right minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, described the law as long overdue, as well as a sign of strength and national pride. “From today, every terrorist will know, and the whole world will know, that whoever takes a life, the State of Israel will take their life,” he told lawmakers. He wore a signature pin – a small metal noose – on his lapel.
In May last year, then Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the UK had suspended negotiations with Israel on a new free trade agreement. “The Netanyahu government’s actions have made this necessary,” he said, adding in a message to Israel: “…the conduct of the war in Gaza is damaging our relationship with your government.”
Ahead of Israel’s Parliament approving the death penalty law, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper expressed “deep concern”. A joint statement with the foreign ministers of Australia, Germany, France, Italy and New Zealand, said: “We are particularly worried about the de facto discriminatory character of the bill. The adoption of this bill would risk undermining Israel’s commitments with regards to democratic principles.” In the statement late last month, the ministers added: “We urge the Israeli decision makers in Knesset and Government to abandon these plans.”
