In a statement to the UN Security Council published by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the UK said UN Security Council Resolution 2803, adopted in November 2025, still provides the diplomatic basis for President Trump's Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza. The UK described the plan as a route to lasting peace but warned that, eight months later, implementation is in danger of stalling. The statement was organised around three immediate priorities: humanitarian access in Gaza, security and governance arrangements for the territory, and the worsening position in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The practical message was that endorsement at UN level is no longer the issue; delivery on the ground is.
On Gaza, the UK said civilian conditions remain severe, with large areas still defined by rubble, damaged sanitation and disrupted basic services. While officials acknowledged progress in pulling the territory back from the famine levels seen in 2025, they argued that avoiding famine is too low a standard to count as success. Citing the latest IPC food security snapshot, the UK said 1.2 million people still face significant food shortages and that around 90 per cent of the population is expected to remain dependent on humanitarian assistance. The statement added that food being present in private markets does not mean it is reachable or affordable for vulnerable households, which is why the UK argued that humanitarian relief should not be made conditional on movement in other political or security tracks.
That position led to a more specific set of requests to Israel. The UK said Israel should meet its commitments under the Comprehensive Plan by allowing unimpeded humanitarian access, opening additional crossings into Gaza, easing the approvals system for so-called dual-use goods, and permitting the entry of life-saving supplies as well as basic recovery items. The reference to dual-use approvals matters because it covers materials that Israeli authorities say could serve both civilian and military purposes. Delays in that system can hold up equipment needed for water, sanitation, shelter and health services. The UK also raised concern about reported Hamas obstruction of relief operations, including the recent incident at a World Food Programme distribution centre highlighted by Deputy Special Coordinator Alakbarov, and said disruption of life-saving assistance is unacceptable. It added that UN agencies, including UNRWA, and non-governmental organisations must be able to operate safely and at scale.
On the second track, the UK returned to the question of who governs Gaza after the current phase of the conflict and on what security basis. The statement repeated the UK's position that Hamas should decommission its weapons and dismantle what the UK described as its terrorist infrastructure. It said this should happen through a phased and verified process, paired with a stronger Palestinian security presence, deployment of an International Stabilisation Force and a sequenced Israeli withdrawal. This is intended to avoid two outcomes the UK now presents as unacceptable: a permanent separation of Gaza from the wider Palestinian territories, and any long-term arrangement in which millions remain under Hamas control. At the recent Palestinian Donor Group, the UK said it had joined the Team Gaza Initiative and committed more than $13 million to the UN Horizon Fund, with the stated aim of supporting Palestinian-led delivery across the whole of Gaza rather than a fragmented response.
The third part of the statement dealt with the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where the UK said the trajectory remains deeply alarming. Referring to the violence on 24 July 2026, officials said four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed. The UK condemned violence on all sides, called for de-escalation, and urged the Israeli government to exercise restraint, uphold stability and international law, and ensure accountability for crimes. That formulation places emphasis not only on immediate calm but also on legal obligations and follow-through. In policy terms, the UK is signalling that day-to-day security measures will be judged against their wider effect on public order, civilian protection and the viability of any negotiated settlement.
The statement then identified two incidents the UK regards as especially sensitive. It said it was alarmed by the mass incursion on 23 July 2026 at Haram al Sharif, known to Jewish worshippers as the Temple Mount, involving thousands of Jewish worshippers. The UK said the longstanding Status Quo governing Jerusalem's holy sites should be respected, reflecting the view that even symbolic changes at these sites can trigger wider instability. The UK also referred to reports of an Israeli forces incursion on an UNRWA training centre near Kalandia refugee camp the following morning. By linking those incidents in the same passage, the statement connected tension around holy sites, operations affecting UN premises and the broader deterioration in West Bank security conditions.
The UK said these incidents should not be read in isolation. It linked them to a wider deterioration in the West Bank driven by settler violence and by Israeli government policy. The statement cited the approval of 104 Israeli settlements over four years and the allocation of billions of dollars to accelerate construction. In the UK's assessment, those steps amount to a deliberate erosion of the possibility of a two-state solution. The closing message was that progress on humanitarian relief, security arrangements, governance and territorial restraint cannot be deferred indefinitely. For diplomats, aid agencies and donor governments, the statement amounts to a warning that the political space for a future based on peace, security and dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis is narrowing further.