Rights groups have unveiled a five-point blueprint urging Andy Burnham to take a tougher stance on Israel if, as widely expected, he becomes the UK's next prime minister later this month.
At a briefing in the House of Lords on Wednesday, the Council of Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) and the Britain Palestine Project (BPP) called on Burnham, who is expected to succeed Keir Starmer as Labour leader and prime minister on 20 July, to adopt a series of measures that would significantly increase UK pressure on Israel over its policies in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The proposed pledges include banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements, enforcing international law against Israel, ensuring unrestricted humanitarian access and reconstruction in the occupied Palestinian territories, opening Gaza and the West Bank to journalists, politicians and investigators, and working with allies to end Israel's unlawful occupations across the region.
If adopted, the proposals would mark a significant hardening of UK policy towards Israel.
Among the measures is a commitment to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and make it a criminal offence for British nationals to purchase property there.
The organisations also call for stronger enforcement of international law, including suspending arms exports and military cooperation with Israel, freezing the UK-Israel Trade Partnership over alleged breaches of its human rights clause, and imposing sanctions on Israeli individuals and entities using a model similar to that adopted against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Other proposals include restoring and protecting funding for the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), guaranteeing access to the occupied Palestinian territories for parliamentarians, journalists and international investigators, and defending Jordan's custodianship of Jerusalem's holy sites.
Victor Kattan, associate professor of public international law at the University of Nottingham and legal adviser to the Britain Owes Palestine campaign, told The New Arab that Britain could go much further.
"They need to go beyond simply sanctioning settlers to sanctioning the governments and government institutions that support what has been going on for decades," Kattan said.
He argued that the UK should strengthen restrictions on arms sales and military cooperation with Israel while working with international partners to expand sanctions and divestment measures.
Kattan said it remained unclear whether Burnham would adopt the proposals, pointing to the Labour leader's "conflicting statements" on Palestine.
"I think the key will be when we see the ministerial appointments, who he appoints as foreign minister, attorney general, and so on, but certainly it is a good moment to try and influence policy. We'll see what happens," he said.
Former Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve, who also addressed the briefing, said he believed attitudes within government were shifting.
"I think there is a change in attitude within government, a sense that something more must be done, and I see no reason to think that Burnham, if he becomes Prime Minister, will take a different view from Starmer on that," Grieve told The New Arab .
"I am moderately hopeful that there will be some movement, but I wouldn't want to exaggerate it. I think it's quite difficult to read," he added.
Grieve cautioned, however, that any major policy shift would be complicated by the UK's relationship with the United States and wider geopolitical considerations.
Not everyone at the briefing believed the proposals went far enough.
An Al-Haq representative told The New Arab that while a ban on settlement trade would be welcome, it would still fall short of Britain's obligations under the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion on Israel's occupation and conduct in Gaza.
"We welcome a ban on settlement trade, especially including services. However, again, that will not bring the UK in line with its commitments," the representative said.
"What its commitments actually should involve is a complete ban on all diplomatic and trade relations, that naturally has to include a complete ban on any kind of arms exports or imports, also a duty not to recognise in any diplomatic forum Israel's presence in Palestine as lawful."
The representative also criticised Britain's continued backing of US President Donald Trump's 20-point Gaza " peace plan ".