UK tells UN more must be done on West Bank violence
In its statement to the UN Security Council, the UK government tried to do two things at once: restate a long-term political goal and point to the immediate dangers getting in the way. It said the only credible route to lasting peace and security remains a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a sovereign and viable Palestinian state made up of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. If you are trying to make sense of the statement, it helps to notice how tightly it is organised. The UK sets out three priorities: make the Gaza ceasefire work, stop violence in the West Bank, and halt the spread of settlements. That matters because it treats today's emergency and tomorrow's political settlement as part of the same problem.
On Gaza, the UK says recent diplomatic effort around Security Council Resolution 2803 now needs to turn into action. According to the statement, that means all sides meeting the promises attached to the current process: respecting the ceasefire, Hamas carrying out decommissioning commitments, Israeli forces withdrawing in phases under the 20-point plan and the Roadmap for Phase Two, and governance and security control moving to the Palestinian Authority. **What this means:** the UK is not describing a ceasefire as a finish line. It is describing it as a bridge. The hope is that fighting reduces, armed control by Hamas ends, and Palestinian civilian governance becomes strong enough to take over. That is why the statement also urges the Palestinian Authority to keep reforming, and why it thanks the US, Qatar, Türkiye and Egypt for pushing negotiations forward.
But the statement is also clear that diplomacy on paper is not enough while life in Gaza remains, in its words, appalling. It echoes Ed Miliband's warning about conditions on the ground and says Israeli authorities must end what it calls unacceptable restrictions on aid, allowing safe, sustained and unhindered humanitarian access across Gaza. That point is easy to miss if you only follow ceasefire headlines. A pause in fighting matters, but food, medicine, shelter and fuel still have to reach people in large enough quantities. For readers here, the lesson is simple: humanitarian access is not a side issue to peace talks. It is one of the tests of whether a ceasefire means anything in daily life.
The second priority is the West Bank, where the UK says violence is escalating. The statement says that in July alone, 13 Palestinians and 2 Israelis were killed. It also condemns recent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages and communities, adding that some incidents took place alongside Israeli military personnel. For context, the UN humanitarian office, OCHA, is cited in the statement as recording more than 1,300 settler-related incidents affecting over 250 Palestinian communities. The same set of figures says around 900 Palestinians have been injured, more than 3,200 displaced, and at least 3 Israelis killed and 24 injured this year. When you hear the term settlers, it refers to Israeli civilians living in settlements in the occupied West Bank. The political argument around them is not abstract; it shows up in injuries, fear, destroyed property and forced displacement.
Children sit right at the centre of this harm. The UK says they are being exposed again and again to violence, displacement and disruption caused by movement restrictions and military operations. One detail in the statement brings that into sharp focus: on 4 August, Israeli forces demolished three donor-funded classrooms at Sha'ab al Butum School, only weeks before the school year was due to begin. For a platform built around learning, that detail is impossible to brush past. Schools are not just buildings. They are routine, safety and future. When classrooms are demolished, education is not paused in a neat or temporary way; it is fractured, and children carry that break with them.
The UK calls on the Israeli government to fulfil its obligations to protect the Palestinian population of the occupied territory. It says recent arrests and indictments of people accused of settler violence are welcome, but not enough. The line running through the statement is that perpetrators have acted with impunity for too long, and that much more must be done to prevent attacks as well as prosecute them. **What this means:** accountability is not only about punishing violence after it happens. It is also about whether authorities act early, consistently and lawfully to stop civilians being attacked in the first place. The statement adds that Israeli security measures must be proportionate, consistent with international law and aimed at de-escalation, which is diplomatic language for a basic principle: force should not deepen the crisis it claims to control.
The third priority is settlement expansion. The UK repeats a position shared by much of the international community: settlements are illegal under international law, they damage the chances of a two-state solution, and they make insecurity worse for Palestinians and Israelis alike. According to the statement, the Israeli government has approved 104 settlements in four years, an increase of 80 per cent, while also directing unprecedented funding towards new construction. That is why the UK condemns threats to expand illegal settlements and outposts, and why it opposes the return of the E1 settlement plan, which it says would cut the West Bank in half. The statement also expresses alarm at recent mass incursions at Haram al Sharif, known to many Jewish worshippers as the Temple Mount, and says the long-standing Status Quo at Jerusalem's holy sites must be respected. The closing message is blunt: renewed movement towards Resolution 2803 may be the clearest opening for peace available right now, but it will not survive if the West Bank continues to deteriorate.