A group of parliamentarians have urged Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband to impose further sanctions on Israel over alleged restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
In a letter of 28th October, coordinated by the Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu) and the Britain-Palestine Project, 75 MPs and peers called on the government to use newly conferred sanctions powers to target those they say are obstructing the flow of food, medicine and other vital supplies.
The signatories include former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran and the Conservatives’ Baroness Wars.
The letter called for the first sanctions to be announced immediately with a view to further action before winter sets in.
"You correctly stated that the Israeli authorities had routinely blocked life-saving aid and access into Gaza," they wrote, referring to claims outlined in the Foreign Office’s existing sanctions.
Israel has denied deliberately preventing aid from going into the Strip, saying that more than sufficient supplies have reached the territory and that select restrictions have related to security issues.
“The powers now exist. We urge you to use them now, starting with those who have been responsible for denying and obstructing life-saving aid to the Palestinians in Gaza,” the letter went on.
It also called for sanctions to be imposed on groups accused of blocking, attacking or looting aid convoys and on members of Hamas or other armed groups who are found to have diverted or otherwise interfered with assistance for the civilian population.
One of the organisations mentioned is Tzav 9, an Israeli far-right activist group which the letter stated has been sanctioned by the EU since July 2024 for repeatedly obstructing aid trucks (delivering food, water and fuel) into Gaza.
The signatories suggested the UK use an accelerated route to designate individuals or entities already subject to sanctions by other countries for similar behaviour.
In particular, they raised concerns about Israel's decision to cancel the licences of 37 international NGOs from January 2026.
Israeli authorities said the groups have refused to comply with new rules requiring them to disclose the personal details of their Palestinian staff.
Among them were Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The letter also called on the UK to press Israel to allow in further food, medical supplies, fuel, shelter materials, drainage equipment and to provide further funding for the humanitarian operations.
It cautioned that displaced Palestinians will be at risk from winter flooding, with particular reference to the risk of sewage-contaminated water and the risk of shelter supplies being compromised.
The sanctions regime was introduced via the Global Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Sanctions Regulations 2026, which came into force on October 15.
The regulations give the power to designate individuals who are involved in serious violations of international humanitarian law or in the obstruction of humanitarian assistance.
The letter concluded by asserting that the effectiveness of the new powers should be judged by whether Palestinian families have access to food, clean water and adequate shelter rather than by the number of people that are sanctioned.
It said sanctions, humanitarian access and funding must work in tandem to ensure that assistance actually gets to the civilians in Gaza.
The full list of signatories includes MPs from Labour, the Lib Dems, the Greens, Plaid Cymru, the SNP and the independents, plus peers and two bishops of the Church of England.
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