News recently broke that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel had been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities. Having travelled to Israel and Palestine myself during Parliament’s February recess, I find this deeply concerning.

This incident appears to be an attempt to censor British Parliamentarians. In light of this, I thought I would share some reflections of my visit, and why I believe Britain must push harder for peace.

I travelled to the region to better understand the conflict, advocate for peace, and explore how the UK can contribute to a lasting solution.

What happened on October 7 2023 was horrific. I visited the Nova festival site, where some of the deadliest attacks by Hamas took place and 364 people were killed.

Israel is clearly a nation in mourning. There are flags and posters of the hostages lining almost every highway, at airports and other key locations. The vast majority of the Israeli public want a hostage deal, and see this as a priority.

Unfortunately, what I saw first-hand is that Israeli settlement expansion in the Occupied Palestinian Territories remains one of the biggest barriers to peace.

These settlements are illegal under international law, exacerbate tension, and undermine the viability of a two-state solution.

Many settlers are also IDF (Israel Defense Forces) reservists, meaning the Israeli military is often unable — or unwilling — to curb settler violence. Such violence is sadly commonplace, and it is clear that Israel seeks to limit outside visibility on the treatment of Palestinians.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in the West Bank. Many live as second-class citizens at best, with Israelis demolishing over 1,000 Palestinian properties annually.

Whilst inspecting the burnt out and ruined houses and a school in Susya – partly paid for by British aid spending – we were approached by two young settlers armed with machine guns. It seemed that they were there to threaten and intimidate us – to prevent us seeing what they and their colleagues had done.

The Lib Dems have previously called for our government to sanction far-right Israeli ministers, and leaders of the extremist settler movement, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. Ed Davey raised this directly with the Prime Minister during PMQs in October last year.

The UK can and must do more to push for peace. We should introduce a full embargo on trade with illegal settlements. Any company or individual that trades with them should lose the right to do business with the UK — including access to the City of London.

The Liberal Democrats and I want to see an immediate ceasefire, urgent aid access, the release of hostages, recognition of Palestine, and an end to UK arms sales to Israel.

It’s clear that a lasting peace depends on a two-state solution. That must be backed by regional security guarantees provided by neighbouring Arab countries – I am pleased that European nations have begun working with our Arab partners to achieve this.