Burnham expected to sanction West Bank settlements before Labour conference next month

Now it is understood that sanctions against the Jewish state could be imminent, with Burnham expected to make an announcement when Parliament returns from summer recess and before Labour conference at the end of September.

Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) has warned that a trade boycott targeting settlements – and avoiding the rest of the Jewish state – is “practically impossible” and will therefore become a “de facto boycott of all of Israel”.

Officials have warned that a blanket ban on goods from the West Bank would risk impacting trade with Israel more broadly, and that there would be challenges for the UK in identifying the difference between goods from the settlements and Israel.

A trade ban would also impact Palestinian businesses in the occupied territories.

In a statement, LFI said that it “strongly opposes” the Israeli settlements and supports “calibrated steps against extremists” in the territory, but that it did not support a trade ban.

“A boycott of trade with settlements is practically impossible and will become a de facto boycott of all of Israel, which would be deeply damaging to the UK national interest, the British Jewish community and Palestinian workers,” an LFI spokesperson said.

They also warned that steps taken against Jerusalem in the lead up to the Israeli elections in October risk pushing the electorate towards the right wing.

“With a general election on October 27, there is a real risk that untargeted action feeds the ‘siege mentality’ of the Israeli right and is thus politically damaging to Israel’s opposition, which is leading in the polls and will bring about a substantive change in direction,” LFI added.

Last October, Spain blocked arms sales with Israel and the importing of goods for the occupied West Bank, and Ireland passed legislation in July banning the import of goods from the settlements. 

Dame Emily Thornberry, the head of the foreign affairs select committee, last week urged the government to introduce a ban on goods from the occupied West Bank to help shore up the chance of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.

She said that the current “level of the settler violence” was the worst she has ever seen and the two-state solution was at risk of being lost as a result of actions by the Israeli government and settlers trying to force Palestinians off their own land in the West Bank.

According Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, the number of serious incidents of “nationalistic crime” committed by extremist Jewish settlers in the West Bank surged by 63 per cent during the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

In the weeks before he became prime minister, Burnham made an apology for the party's handling of Gaza under Starmer’s leadership, saying Labour had “not got it right” on the issue.

But Israel could dominate the agenda at Burnham’s first conference as party leader.

Left-wing Labour factions have been circulating model motions pushing the government to recognise the Gaza war as a “genocide”, impose sanctions on Israel, including a block on arms deals with the Jewish state, and withdraw support for US military on UK bases.

Whether those motions are debated will depend on decisions made by Constituency Labour Party delegates and the unions.

A government spokesperson said: "we do not comment on speculation.

“The Foreign Secretary has been clear that illegal settlements threaten the viability of a Palestinian state and undermine security for both Israelis and Palestinians.”