“We know that Israel’s atrocities will only truly end when impunity does. Today’s decision by the UK gives momentum to attempts to uphold international law and protect Palestinians.”
Responding to the announcement of UK sanctions on Israeli settlements, Steve Cutts, CEO at Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), released the following statement:
We welcome the UK Government’s recognition that Israel’s occupation is unlawful and its commitments to a package of actions. The decision to ban imports of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and take action against specific services that sustain them is a substantial and welcome shift, and a hopeful signal that the UK is finally ready to take action against Israel’s settlement project and policy of ethnic cleansing after decades of impunity.
The consequences of Israel’s occupation are not abstract. Every day our teams witness how settler terrorism has critically undermined access to healthcare. Military closures, checkpoints and other restrictions that sustain the settlement project routinely block Palestinians from reaching essential health services. Patients requiring urgent treatment are delayed or refused passage, leaving people to bleed, suffer, and sometimes die while waiting for checkpoints to open.
While in Gaza – nearly a year into the so-called ‘ceasefire’ – the Israeli military continues to kill Palestinians with impunity and critically obstruct vital aid and medical supplies. We welcome the commitment to support accountability for what has happened in Gaza and to expand the UK’s suspension of arms licenses that materially contribute to the occupation. These measures must be comprehensive in scope and implementation.
We know that Israel’s atrocities will only truly end when impunity does. Today’s decision by the UK gives momentum to attempts to uphold international law and protect Palestinians. But this must not be the limit of UK action. We urge the government to continue to seize this important opportunity.
- This statement was originally published by Medical Aid for Palestinians on 8 September 2026.
- MAP has a public statement calling for the government to act now to end Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians – add your name here.
