UK secretly considered suspending Israel trade deal during Gaza famine

What Happened

In August 2025, the UK Department for Business and Trade secretly conducted an impact assessment on suspending the UK-Israel Trade Partnership Agreement, which grants Israel tariff-free access for most goods. The review, commissioned under then Prime Minister Keir Starmer, was not disclosed to Parliament or the public, and the government ultimately decided against suspending the deal. At the time, Israel was deliberately starving Palestinians in Gaza, leading to famine, and was accelerating settlement expansion and ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank. The existence of the assessment was only revealed after Global Justice Now submitted a freedom of information request; officials refused to release its scope, findings, or decisions. Then Trade Minister Chris Bryant, who has ties to the Labour Friends of Israel lobby group, defended the decision in October 2025, citing risks to British jobs and economic disruption. The review came as international pressure mounted, including an International Court of Justice advisory opinion requiring states to prevent trade that sustains Israel’s illegal settlements.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The episode exposes the gap between the UK’s public condemnation of Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank and its economic policy, showing how domestic lobbying and economic interests can override pressure from international law and humanitarian crises. It also underscores the limited willingness of Western governments to use trade leverage even amid findings of famine and possible genocide, raising questions about accountability and the enforcement of ICJ advisory opinions.

Watch For

Further disclosures from Freedom of Information requests or parliamentary inquiries into the secret assessment; any renewed calls by MPs or advocacy groups to suspend the deal following future escalations in Gaza or the West Bank; the EU’s potential moves to withdraw trade concessions from Israel; and legal challenges or state obligations invoked under the ICJ advisory opinion.