UK urged to sanction Netanyahu and justice minister over Israeli torture of Palestinians
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Mon, 07/06/2026 - 10:16
Over 70 British lawmakers say Israeli premier and his deputy are responsible for 'systematic and well-documented torture of Palestinian civilians'
Israel's Defence Minister Yisrael Katz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on 11 June 2025 (AFP/Menahem Kahana)
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Dozens of British lawmakers have urged the UK government to sanction Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his justice minister over Israel’s abuse of Palestinian civilians.
At least 71 MPs and peers from different parties signed a letter last week addressed to UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, Sky News reported.
The letter said that the “systematic and well-documented torture of Palestinian civilians lies with the government of Israel, including Prime Minister Netanyahu".
It was led by Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan, and includes 30 MPs and seven peers from the ruling Labour Party.
The lawmakers urged Cooper to “help end the impunity” by sanctioning Netanyahu and Yariv Levin, who serves as deputy prime minister, as well as justice minister and interior minister.
The letter stated that sanctions last year against right-wing ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, which “remain welcome”, had done “little to change the government of Israel's approach to Palestinian detainees". They added that things had “escalated, with near total impunity” since then.
It cites a UN report from February which finds that "torture has become integral to the domination of and punishment inflicted on Palestinian men, women and children, both through custodial abuse and through a relentless campaign of forced displacement, mass killings, deprivation and the destruction of all means of life".
Dropping rape charges
The letter also mentions the fact that Netanyahu had praised the decision to drop charges a few months ago in a case of the alleged rape of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli troops.
The parliamentarians also mention that two months ago when the Global Sumud Flotilla headed for Gaza, and was intercepted by Israeli forces, British nationals were detained in international waters.
The letter is signed by lawmakers from the Green Party, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein, the SDLP, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party, as well as one Conservative MP.
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A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told Sky News: "The reports of mistreatment of detainees by Israeli forces are disgraceful and we have raised this issue with the Israeli government.
"All detainees must be treated with dignity and in full accordance with international law, and any allegations of torture or mistreatment must be thoroughly investigated. The UK continues to call on the government of Israel to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross immediate and unrestricted access to all detention facilities.
"It is completely unacceptable that hundreds of Palestinian children are reportedly held in Israeli detention without charge for months."
In March, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, said in her report to the UN Human Rights Council that "the Israeli prison system has degenerated into a laboratory of calculated cruelty" with acts that include rape of Palestinians with bottles, metal rods and knives.
Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023, more than 100 Palestinian prisoners have reportedly died in Israeli custody.
However, it is widely believed that this is an underestimate and the real figure could be much higher.
Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant were issued arrest warrants by the ICC in November 2024 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed in Gaza since October 2023.
Israel's genocide in Gaza
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