Tag: Yvette Cooper

The statement made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, in the House of Commons on 11 June 2026.

Tomorrow marks one year since Air India flight 171 crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad en route to London. This tragic accident claimed the lives of 260 people, including 52 British nationals and 113 others who lived in the UK—one of the largest losses of British life in any air accident. The continued heartache of the families and loved ones of those who died is impossible to imagine, not least for those who still have questions about the tragedy and the aftermath.

The thoughts of the whole Government remain with all those affected by this tragic accident. When I visited New Delhi last week, I joined Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar in commemorating the tragedy. I also raised the importance of closure for all those who have been left bereaved, as we continue to wait for the full accident investigation report, and as some families still wait for answers regarding their loved ones’ remains.

The UK Government response to the crash was both immediate and long lasting. Following the crash, officials initiated our crisis response to provide direct support to bereaved families and address the needs and welfare of all affected British nationals. Our high commissioner, Lindy Cameron, travelled to Ahmedabad on the day of the crash and has continued to support the UK deputy high commission team in the city. Trained consular staff were deployed to Ahmedabad to support families through the immediate period following the crash, along with experts from disaster victim identification, Red Cross and the UK air accidents investigation branch.

UK police family liaison officers also supported the families of deceased British and foreign nationals who were residents in the UK, and the FCDO continues to provide support to each family in need of help, including through dedicated consular caseworkers to hear feedback from the families and their representatives. As the Indian air accident investigation continues, AAIB family liaison teams have provided support to affected families. We also continue to engage with Air India and Indian Ministries to resolve outstanding issues that families have raised.

At every level, from family liaison officers to Ministers, what we have heard constantly from those who lost loved ones a year ago is that they want information and answers, to help them understand how a tragedy like this could have happened, and to know for certain what happened to their loved ones remains in the aftermath. Not knowing what caused the crash can only add to their sense of grief and frustration, and I hope that the accident investigation report, when completed and published by the Indian authorities, will answer some of their questions. The UK Government will continue to provide all the help and support we can as they seek answers to the rest.

In the meantime, my deepest sympathies remain with all those who lost their lives a year ago, and with all those who continue to mourn that loss today.

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, in the House of Commons on 9 June 2026.

Mr Speaker, this weekend we saw worrying and dangerous escalation. Lebanese Hezbollah continuing to fire into northern Israel, Israeli strikes against southern areas of Beirut, and the direct exchange of missiles between Iran and Israel – presenting one of the most dangerous moments since the fragile ceasefire was agreed.

Over the past 48 hours we have made clear the need for urgent de-escalation, because a resumption of conflict is in no one’s interest, and I spoke to the Iranian Foreign Minister on Sunday evening to convey this directly.

Both Israel and Iran have indicated that they have ended their strikes, and that is welcome, but there was reporting just before I entered the Chamber of strikes again this morning.

It is vital that we have a diplomatic way forward, both to end the conflict in Lebanon, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, to restore regional stability, and prevent Iran ever developing or obtaining a nuclear weapon.

As we have previously made clear in this House, Israel’s recent escalation in Lebanon was reckless and disproportionate, and deepened the humanitarian crisis that has already seen more than a million Lebanese people driven from their homes and thousands killed.

We strongly condemn Hizbollah’s attacks against Israel, including its northern communities, because at Iran’s instigation, Hezbollah – a proscribed organisation – is dragging Lebanon into a war that is against the interests of its people and its government. It must end this dangerous attack and disarm, and the US-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon must be properly observed by all parties.

We want to see a swift and successful conclusion to the ongoing talks between the US and Iran. We need an agreement that gets the Strait fully open with no tolls or charges, and last week I discussed this with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in China and Foreign Minister Jaishankar in India.

Every country has a stake in freedom of navigation, and the UK will continue to speak up for this across the world.

In partnership with France and other countries, we stand ready to play our part, once agreement is reached, to support demining and provide reassurance to shipping through a multilateral maritime mission. With cost-of-living pressures at home, we need a lasting settlement, which delivers peace and stability in the region and the full restoration of global trade.

Let me turn now to Palestine. Nine months ago, at the UN General Assembly, I confirmed the UK’s historic decision to recognise the State of Palestine, and we did so alongside partners in recognition of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people, and to defend the viability of a two-state solution.

We did so as part of a wave of international diplomatic energy in support of peace in the Middle East, and it was a crucial moment of hope that we could end the violence and suffering and begin to build a better future of lasting peace and security for Palestine, Israel, and the wider region.

But today the situation is bleak, and the viability of the two-state solution remains in grave peril.

We turn first to Gaza. The ceasefire remains formally in place, but it is being regularly violated. Since October, over 900 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed. 1.9 million Palestinians remain displaced and dependent on humanitarian aid – and aid is down this year, not up, with 90% of water and sanitation infrastructure destroyed and not rebuilt. Families without shelter, a public health crisis with rodent infestations and communicable disease, and currently at barely half the level of the 4200 trucks a week promised in the 20 Point plan.

Israel’s registration law continues to severely restrict international NGO operations, while key crossings remain closed, and it is a total moral outrage that children are still going hungry while food they need rots on shelves because aid agencies cannot get in.

Meanwhile, Hamas decommissioning has not yet started, and they retain a tight hold on areas of Gaza, and instead of the phased withdrawal of Israeli troops, Gazans are restricted to just 40% of the territory unable to access their land beyond the yellow line. Mr Speaker, we urgently need new international energy, new pressure and new action to resuscitate the 20 Point Plan.

For the UK, that means pressure in three priority areas.

First, increased aid is urgent and must be unconditional. Despite all the challenges, UK aid is making a difference on the ground. Last year, we provided over £80 million of humanitarian and early recovery funding – with funding protected again this year, enabling 650,000 people to receive food and improving access to water, sanitation, and hygiene for 300,000 people.

UK support for mine clearance has enabled 45 acres of land to be made safe for community use and helped clear 24 key sites, including medical facilities. Today, I can announce a further million pounds to support these mine clearance efforts.

But some UK aid is still stuck in warehouses, including in Jordan and Egypt, and humanitarian support is a fundamental right – it cannot be bartered against other aspects of the peace plan. So, the Netanyahu government must recognise its urgent humanitarian responsibility to open crossings and to end the arbitrary restrictions, so the UN, UNRWA, and international NGOs can fulfil their life-saving mandates.

Second, we continue to press for the decommissioning of Hamas weapons to get under way. Hamas must destroy its terrorist infrastructure and weapons production sites as a first step towards full demilitarization, and we have offered UK technical expertise to support this. Meanwhile, Israel must deliver on its commitments to withdraw.

Third, we need the practical support and access that was promised for the transitional Palestinian National Committee. There are still too many obstacles in its path, and it is still not operating within Gaza itself. That makes it easier for Hamas to retain its hold.

We have offered practical support to the committee as they endeavour to fulfil their mandate, and we will lead international calls to support them in co-ordination with the Palestinian Authority. Because Palestine should be run by Palestinians.

Which brings me to the West Bank. Following the ceasefire agreement, I warned that sustained peace would not be possible without a comparable effort to protect the viability of Palestinian statehood and rights in the West Bank. Instead, we have seen the opposite.

Last week, a seven-month-old baby was killed in his mother’s arms, his name was Sam Abu Haikal, after the IDF opened fire on a family car in South Hebron, and the UK supports the calls for an immediate and transparent investigation and robust accountability.

Over the weekend, a gunman in Israel opened fire, with one killed and five injured, an attack that shockingly was applauded by Hamas.

We have also seen rising and incredibly disturbing settler violence, Palestinian families and communities driven from their homes, brutally beaten while farming their own land. 950 violent incidents this year already. In April, settlers shot dead two Palestinians while attacking a school, and one was a boy of 14.

Mr Speaker, the UK condemns the shocking violence which terrorizes Palestinians. Many Israelis are horrified at what they are seeing from settler extremists. The Netanyahu government has condemned some settler violence, but that rings hollow when there is scant accountability, and when the agenda of the hardline settlers has now become intertwined with the approach of this Israeli cabinet.

So, let me set out today new action this government will take.

First, I am announcing a new wave of sanctions targeting the networks that are supporting this violence. Organisations including the Farms Association that fundraises for illegal outposts, strongholds for settler aggression. Ahavat Gilad that serves as the Farms Association’s financial conduit, and Artzenu, that has fundraised for military equipment for armed settler squads.

This is the fourth package of sanctions under this Labour government against extremist Israeli settlers. We have targeted some of the most notorious individuals, the most significant settler entities, and the extremist figures in the Israeli Cabinet who are inciting these acts. Today’s measures mean the UK is second to none among international partners in targeting those facilitating and inciting settler violence.

We are also going further – on the 22nd of May, the Prime Minister led a group of other world leaders, warning businesses not to bid for construction tenders for E1 or other settlement developments.

But this is not just about construction contracts. So today, alongside the Department for Business and Trade, I have strengthened our Business Risk Guidance to make it clear and unambiguous: if you are a British citizen or business, you should not conduct any economic and financial activities in illegal Israeli settlements.

And today, alongside my Right Hon. friend the Culture Secretary, I have written to the Charity Commission for England and Wales requesting that they open an investigation into evidence of UK charities that have links to illegal settlements. The Minister for the Middle East will meet with the Commission CEO tomorrow, because no UK charity should be supporting or enabling these breaches of international law.

The principles we are acting on, I believe, are widely supported across this House. We believe that settlements are a fundamental barrier to peace and a flagrant breach of international law. We believe that violent settler groups should not be profiting from the land that they have seized from Palestinians, and we also believe we must continue to distinguish and protect trade with people and businesses across the state of Israel – trade that reflects long-standing and important ties between our countries and communities.

We will look to continue to co-ordinate our approach with close allies and look at further concrete steps to counter settlement expansion and promote peace and security.

Finally, let me address our support for Palestinian governance. We are keeping up the pressure on the PA, the Palestinian Authority, to deliver its vital reform commitments on education, welfare payments, and elections.

We are expanding the direct practical help to the PA to reform and to deliver effective government for its people, drawing on the deep expertise of the UK Envoy for PA governance, Lord Michael Barber.

But the PA faces an enormous fiscal and healthcare crisis because the Israeli Government has a stranglehold on the Palestinian economy, including withholding $5 billion of Palestinian tax revenue. That means schools and health facilities struggle to stay open for more than one or two days a week.

An effective PA is directly in Israel’s interest. It is both utterly wrong and incredibly short-sighted for the Netanyahu government to seek to undermine it at every turn.

So, the UK has stepped up our efforts in support, alongside the support for reforms. This year, we provided PA funding that helped 5,300 health workers sustain front-line services, and today I can announce we will provide at least £10 million further to support the PA over 2026 to pay salaries bolstering the PA’s ability to function, helping dedicated health professionals to do their essential work across hospitals, clinics and maternity services.

And our focus will be to build more effective, more democratic, and more accountable governance, and to reinforce the unity of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem as inseparable pillars of the state of Palestine.

International pressure and partnership on the ground have been vital over the last 12 months, and so later this week I will travel to Paris, along with other foreign ministers, in advance of the Peace Building Conference, which is bringing together Israeli and Palestinian civil society groups, alongside international partners dedicated to advancing the two-state solution.

Because the momentum of last year must be reinvigorated for the sake of peace and security for all, I commend this statement to the House.

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, in London on 19 May 2026.

Thank you very much. It is a great pleasure to be able to welcome everyone at here, in London, for the Global Partnerships Conference, and a huge pleasure, especially to be able to co-host this conference with South Africa, just as our two countries worked together last year on the replenishment of the Global Fund, helping to secure over £11 billion pounds in pledges to fight aids, tuberculosis, and malaria. And it is a pleasure, too, to co-host with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and British International Investment – the pioneering organisations that have done so much to advance the priorities that we all share.

This conference was designed to be a bit different from the normal international ministerial events that we hold. And so, I just wanted to start by acknowledging the incredible range of depth of experience, of expertise in this room and around this conference centre. From civil society, youth activists, major investors, philanthropists, tech entrepreneurs, experience of development past and ideas and interests for the future. The collective wisdom and insight that we need to harness together in the face of the most unprecedented global challenges. And I know that there’s many individuals, organisations, in this conference, who have long standing commitments to lifting people, communities, and countries out of poverty. And we’ve seen huge progress as a result of that incredible dedication. Over one and a half billion people, worldwide, lifted out of extreme poverty in recent decades. Healthy life expectancy around the world increased by over five years in just a decade. Over 100 million more children going to school, and nations benefitting from stronger job creation and growth. And as the British Foreign Secretary, I’m proud that the UK has played its part in that story of transformation, working with partner governments, and with many of you here today. And as we look forward now, as many of those same values that have underpinned that progress are enduring. Our sense of our shared humanity, that fundamental moral purpose to stand up against global disease and hunger, and to support those trapped in crises caused by conflict or climate change. And the deep distress we share, and injustice, and unfair inequalities that hold people back.

But we are here today because we know that change is needed. Because we know we need to do things differently. At a time when our world is more volatile, more contested, more unstable, than ever, and when our multilateral system is under strain. And we meet against the backdrop of the Strait of Hormuz crisis. A strait of water through which 90 ships a day used to pass but for the last three months, it’s been more like five. Heating oil for Asia, stuck in the Strait, fertilisers for Africa, stuck in the Strait, 20,000 seafarers, 800 ships just stuck in the Strait. The price effects felt on the other side of the world. The global economy is being held hostage and the global South is paying the biggest price. It’s affecting the planting season, too. The agricultural clock is ticking, and damage is already being done that will affect crop yields and food prices well into next year. As the World Food Programme has warned, some 45 million people in the global South are at risk of being pushed into acute hunger this year. The world risks sleepwalking into a global food crisis. And we cannot risk tens of millions of people going hungry because Iran has hijacked an international shipping lane.

And so that is why we need to act together in our response. The World Bank, the IMF, other institutions have an unparallelled ability to deliver emergency finance at a scale that’s needed to cushion the immediate impacts of the crisis. And with others, the UK has been using our voice and shareholder role to press for a step change in response, coordinated across the global financial system. We need faster coordinated action, multilateral development banks operating as a coherent whole, not just in parallel, aligned programming, quicker disbursement, specific support. to fertiliser markets, working closely with UN agencies. And with the World Food Programme, we’re already helping preposition food supplies, because we have to get ahead of the risks, not wait for the suffering to unfold before us.

But aid can’t operate alone. And that’s why Britain has led diplomatic efforts to press for the immediate reopening of the Strait, convening partners to defend the principle of the law of the sea, and why we’re preparing alongside France, a multilateral maritime mission to reassure shipping and get to trade moving when an agreement is in place, and supporting the negotiations, to fully reopen the Strait, free from restrictions and tolls, to get the global economy moving again. But the Hormuz crisis holds up a mirror to our wider challenges. This shows the importance of acting early and in partnership to mobilise support. The importance of political and policy responses to tackle the causes of crises, not just to mitigate their impacts. The importance of the rule of law. In this case, freedom of navigation, for prosperity and development, not just for order and stability. And the urgent need to address the underlying weaknesses in our economic resilience and our precarious food and energy security.

For us in the UK, that means, first and foremost, accelerating the clean energy transition. Instead of the fossil fuel roller coaster, the security independence. An economy of British owned renewable energy. Because renewable energy can’t get stuck in the Strait of Hormuz and can’t be hijacked by hostile states. This is a choice we are making for ourselves, but it is also true for many other countries as well. And so, in responding to this crisis, we should be turbocharging that shift, and it’s why I’m so pleased that we can announce today the BII’s investment, the British International Investment, additional investment, to deliver over £4.6 billion of climate investment in emerging markets to support the green transition, and to build energy security, too.

The reason that this matters is because the Strait of Hormuz is no outlier. Coming so soon after the energy price shock, the grain supply threats when Russia invaded Ukraine, or the supply chain crisis in COVID. This reflects a new era of geopolitics and geoeconomics, an era of global great power competition and global volatility, but also concurrent crises, from conflict, climate, from communicable disease. Where our interconnected world that has helped lift nations out of poverty and drive growth is turned against us to become a source of great vulnerability. At a time when violent conflict is on the rise around the world and greater than any time since the Second World War. And we’ve seen new levels and patterns of displacement and migration, tied also often to climate change as extreme weather and record temperatures destroy livelihoods. And also the new uncertainties from the pace of technological change. As AI, frontier technologies offer profound potential to give us new solutions around healthcare, around development, around economic growth. But also real risks of compounding global injustice and insecurity unless we respond. And, of course, a multilateral system in need of reform. At a time when development budgets in many donor countries, including here in the UK, are under financial strain or facing reductions.

So, in the face of these challenges, bold new approaches are needed, and we need to be honest that as well as keeping up with changing times, we need to address some of the deficiencies in some of the traditional ways we’ve done development in the past. The external blueprints, the paternalism, the policies that increased dependency rather than building resilience, and the reflex to act for others, rather than getting firmly behind local needs and priorities. So, as part of the UK’s response, we’ve held honest exchanges with partners about what we should do differently. And heard clearly the need and the demand for greater voice and agencies, for countries and communities to shape decisions that affect them, including global institutions and the global financial system.

As Mia Motley, the farsighted Prime Minister of Barbados has put it, seats at the table of decision making, where we can be seen, heard, become active agents in our own cause and lead our own development. And that lies behind the shifts that my friend and fellow minister, Baroness Jenny Chapman, has been leading in our UK development approach, as she will set out to you earlier this morning. Moving from donor to investor, from grants to expertise, putting partnership, and the focus on local needs at the centre of what we do, and putting those shifts hardwired into this conference today and tomorrow. Because the framing is about partnerships. Collective action on common challenges, on mutual respect, learning, and accountability. And a joint document that is not about traditional aid pledges, but about focussing on mobilising finance technology and new coalitions. And I want to pay tribute to Jenny and the FCDO team for bringing this event together.

So let me just then highlight three areas of what this looks like. On development finance, shifting the centre of gravity from traditional measures around public funding towards mobilising much wider investments and different forms of capital investment and support. For example, developing local capital markets to attract and allocate finance effectively, as we’ve done in Ethiopia, through support to their first public stock exchange, so that Ethiopian companies can tap into new funding. With UK Insurance sector, pioneering new private partnerships, that can help countries respond more quickly and effectively to natural disasters. And working through the most impactful bits of the multilateral system, such as the World Bank’s International Development Association, where every pound we invest unlocks four pounds of additional finance. Whilst backing calls for the reforms of the global financial system, including by tackling unsustainable debt, through expanding the common framework, and making it meet countries’ needs more quickly. We’re backing through Africa’s institutions to raise far more funding at scale. With our 650-million-pound contribution to the African development fund, helping leverage in up to 1.6 billion in grants and concessional loans, including issuing bonds on the London Stock Exchange for the first time. And moving from into also providing expertise, such as the tax advice that has helped Ghana, generate, an additional 100 million in revenue to invest in its own education and health priorities, far more than a traditional UK aid programme could have provided.

The second shift is to make sure we focus. our humanitarian and grant aid on the countries and the communities that need support most. Conflict is now one of the biggest drivers of extreme poverty across the world. Already over half of extreme poverty is concentrated in conflict affected, fragile states. And so, alongside our aid allocations to areas like Sudan and Lebanon, Palestine, were prioritising conflict resolution in each of those areas too. A focus that also supports our interest because conflicts that rage unresolved radiate instability across regions and continents. And it’s in our collective interest to support global health too. When we see the Ebola outbreak spread in and around the DRC, flagged by the WHO as being of clear international concern. And we also need a reset of the whole humanitarian system, as proposed, by UN Humanitarian Chief, Tom Fletcher, and organisations like the International Rescue Committee, rigorous prioritisation and shifting the power and resources to local partners that really understand the local contexts and needs. And UN reform, too, to help the UN play its indispensable role, to be more efficient, or effective and coherent, refocused on the core priorities and results in line with the UN 80 reform initiative.

But finally, I want to mention a further focus. that is about our values and also our shared interests. Because amidst the plethora of global emergencies, we can risk neglecting one that blights the safety and prosperity, equality, and freedom of half the world, including here in the UK. And that’s why the UK government has made tackling violence against women and girls a national mission. setting an unprecedented mission, a push to harm violence against women and girls in the UK in a decade. But we believe it also needs to be a global focus. Because at a time when one in every three women and girls, worldwide, will experience physical or sexual violence, these are not simply the statistics, but life scarred and generations that can bear those scars. And having heard firsthand on the Sudan-Chad border earlier this year, in Adre, some of the most harrowing stories of rape and sexual violence. We know that that kind of violence can pass through and scar whole generations and communities for years to come. And so tomorrow, here at this conference, we will say more about our upcoming international campaign, and the new coalition we seek to build involving multiple countries here at this conference.

So, in closing, let me thank you for being here and for all the discussions and the conversations about this event. This part of London is no stranger to being the basis for international cooperation. We’re holding this conference just a couple of miles from Greenwich’s Royal Observatory, from which the world agreed how to measure time. And that agreement, to create a single primary meridian, unlocked cooperation on trade or commerce, on global interactions. And here today, in a different time, on different terms, as an international community, with states, company, civil society, all represented, we’re discussing, again, the cooperation on the critical issues that will shape the coming decades, signing our jointly endorsed, Global Partnerships Compact. And I hope this shared endeavour that will carry us forward, whether it’s at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, the multilateral events, or into the UK’s G20 presidency next year. Let me finish where I started, with the potential interest of all of those here, from so many different countries and backgrounds, to bring those partnerships across the world and across our communities together. For a world free from poverty, on a liveable planet, because we know it’s the partnerships that we build across the world, that make each and every one of us stronger at home.

Thank you very much.

The comments made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, on 19 May 2026.

The world is sleepwalking into a global food crisis. We cannot risk tens of millions of people going hungry because one country has hijacked an international shipping lane. Iran’s continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz while the agriculture clock is ticking shows why we need urgent global pressure to get the Strait reopened, fertiliser and fuel moving and ease the costs of living pressures. That is why we will continue to lead calls for the immediate and unrestricted opening of the Strait and advance plans for the Strait of Hormuz Multinational Mission to support any agreement. 

This crisis is affecting developed and developing countries, the private and public sectors alike. It shows why we need a new approach to global partnerships, to drive international development to prevent crises in the first place.  

The world has changed faster than the international system can support it. This conference reflects our modern approach to development working in a new spirit of partnership and building new coalitions to drive a world free from poverty on a liveable planet.  

Our commitment to international development reflects our values and our national interest. In an increasingly interconnected world, instability abroad affects us here at home, from energy prices to food security. Building resilience abroad makes the UK stronger, that’s what this week’s conference is about.

The statement made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, on 19 February 2026.

The findings of this UN report are truly horrific – atrocities including systematic starvation, torture, killings, rape and deliberate ethnic targeting used on the most horrendous scale during the Rapid Support Forces siege of El Fasher.

The UK called for this report to be commissioned by the UN in November to hold perpetrators of these vile atrocities to account, and today I will take its conclusions to the chamber of the Security Council and ensure that the voices of women of Sudan who have endured so much are heard by the world. 

Today’s report describes the most unimaginable and chilling horrors – including people forced to choose between starvation or eating animal feed, children subjected to mass rape, civilians ambushed and slaughtered as they fled the sieged city, patients and staff killed in their hospital, perpetrators boasting of mass crimes on social media, and calling for “extermination”.   

We need urgent action from across the international community including urgent international criminal investigations into the mounting evidence of atrocities in El Fasher to ensure accountability for vile perpetrators, justice for victims and to break the cycle of bloodshed.

We urgently need an end to arms flows. Reports into breaches of the arms embargo which we agree should be extended and enforced, must be investigated. The obstructions to the Fact Finding Mission from both warring parties are shameful and unacceptable – the UN needs unimpeded access to bring atrocities and breaches to account.

Most important of all we need global action and pressure in pursuit of a ceasefire, and essential humanitarian access with support for survivors.

Our response must be emphatic: the UK has sanctioned four senior RSF commanders accused of committing heinous atrocities in El Fasher.  And this week we joined the US and France in proposing they will be designated in the UN too – these crimes must not go unanswered. 

The world is still failing the people of Sudan. When the stories started to emerge about the horrors of El Fasher it should have been a turning point, but the violence is continuing. Today, in the Security Council, the UK as President will make sure the world does not look away. It is time to listen to the women of Sudan not the military men who have been prosecuting this war. We need action for justice, accountability and peace.

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, at the United Nations in New York on 18 February 2026.

Colleagues, let me begin by welcoming my fellow Ministers joining today’s session and also by thanking Under-Secretary-General Di Carlo for her briefing, as well as Hiba Qasas and Nadav Tamir for their powerful remarks which remind us of the opportunity that lies before us, an opportunity to end the cycle of violence and suffering, and to build a better future, free from terror, free from occupation, and to bring lasting peace and security to the region, and to come together in the very spirit of this United Nations.

For more than two years, the human cost has been unimaginable. Families shattered. Communities destroyed or displaced.

Trauma that will reverberate for generations.

The pain of the horrific Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7th, the suffering of the hostages, and the devastation of the war that followed in Gaza, with over 70,000 Palestinians killed. That is ever-present.

With thanks to the leadership of the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye – alongside a wider intense intense diplomatic drive from many of the nations represented here today – a ceasefire was secured and endorsed by this Council, in Resolution 2803.

The hostages are home, and the families of those deceased can finally lay their loved ones to rest.

And we have an international determination to deliver Phase 2 of the Peace Plan.

But the ceasefire itself remains fragile.

And the progress we all seek is at risk.

We have seen ceasefire violations on both sides. 

Hamas has continued to attack Israeli forces. 

And over 600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire began.

And this is deeply disturbing and undermines Phase 1 of President Trump’s peace plan. 

Gaza must not get stuck in a no-man’s land between peace and war. 

So to deliver Phase 2, we see four priorities for urgent action.

Firstly, we must begin the serious process of decommissioning Hamas’s weapons.

In line with the 20 Point Plan, Hamas must destroy its terrorist infrastructure and weapons production sites as a first step towards full demilitarisation. And we stand ready to play our part.

Hamas must have no future role in running of Gaza.

Because that is crucial for the security of Israelis and Palestinians alike. Alongside this we need to see the Palestinian police strengthened, the International Stabilisation Force deployment, and IDF withdrawal from the Strip.

Second, we need to build stable Palestinian governance.

The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza must be supported to succeed.

This crucial body which was included alongside the Board of Peace in Resolution 2803 now needs to be supported to deliver for the Palestinian people, leading day-to-day service, delivery and recovery efforts, establishing its legitimacy and credibility.

That is the best way to weaken Hamas and render them irrelevant.

And there must be a clear plan for the links and transition from the Committee to a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Because Palestine must be run by Palestinians.

Third, we must prevent the destabilisation of the West Bank and preserve the viability of a Palestinian state. 

We have seen the Palestinian economy face strangulation, including the Israeli government withholding some of the Palestinian authority’s own tax revenues.

We are witnessing an all-time high of Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence, in flagrant breach of international law.

With Palestinian families and communities driven from their homes, beaten while farming in their own land.

Attacks that sow terror among civilians.

This is deeply deeply wrong, and a clear contravention of the resolutions of this Council, and counter-productive. It only makes the Israeli and Palestinian people less secure.
Fourth and most important of all, most immediately, we must address Gaza’s catastrophic humanitarian situation.

Families, repeatedly displaced, are spending this winter desperately seeking shelter amidst the rubble.

Without electricity. Without water supplies or healthcare.

Children have frozen to death, and died while awaiting medical evacuations.

This is unconscionable and, crucially, it is preventable.

To address these dire needs the United Kingdom has contributed over $100m for humanitarian support in Gaza this year.

Since the ceasefire, aid flows have increased, more crossings are partially reopened, but the level of need cannot be met unless more restrictions are lifted covering essential medical equipment, components for field hospitals, basic shelter items.

Because delays and restrictions cost lives. And we also risk now going dangerously backwards.

The Israeli government policy of deregistering and shutting down the operations of international NGOs in Gaza – including British organisations like Save the Children – risk choking off essential access to people in desperate need and closing fragile health facilities, so we need an urgent change in course.

So I urge the authorities to urgently ensure that experienced and long-standing organisations can continue to operate, and the UN and its partners must remain at the heart of the response throughout the whole of Gaza, including the proper protection of all UNRWA and UN staff, premises, and operations.

Colleagues,

Last September, I came to the UN and – and alongside allies – affirmed the UK’s recognition of the State of Palestine.

This historic step, 75 years after Britain’s recognition of the State of Israel, reflected our commitment to a two-state solution, to the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the security of Israel.

And I spoke then about the profound peril facing the two-state solution and the need for the world to come together and take action for peace.

That remains true today.

So Britain remains steadfast in our support for the security of Israel and its people.

Because a two-state solution can be the gateway to transform the region: with normalisation, regional integration and peaceful coexistence.

But security cannot be achieved by an indefinite or humiliating occupation that denies security and sovereignty to the Palestinian people.

So despite the trauma; despite the suffering of recent years, there remains the hope for a better future.

As we have heard from the powerful testimonies of our civil society briefers today.

In March this year the UK will hold a Peacebuilding Conference to bring together Israel and Palestinian civil society leaders to build trust and challenge divisions, because peace is built not just by governments, but by whole societies.

The UK has its own experience of peacebuilding in Northern Ireland, which was a conflict that many said could never be resolved and communities that many said could never co-exist.

There are other members of this Council who have equivalent or deeper insights. And we know that we cannot undo the trauma of the past. But we can chart a different course for generations to come.

To help realise Palestinian self-determination.

To help provide Israel with long-term security.

And to secure the two-state solution as the only path to lasting peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike.

The comments made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, on 14 February 2026.

Since Yulia Navalnaya announced the loss of her husband here in Munich two years ago, the UK has pursued the truth of Alexei Navalny’s death with fierce determination

“Only the Russian Government had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin against Alexei Navalny during his imprisonment in Russia.

Today, beside his widow, the UK is shining a light on the Kremlin’s barbaric plot to silence his voice.

Russia saw Navalny as a threat. By using this form of poison the Russian state demonstrated the despicable tools it has at its disposal and the overwhelming fear it has of political opposition.

The statement made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, on 9 February 2026.

British National Jimmy Lai was today sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong for exercising his right to freedom of expression, following a politically motivated prosecution. Beijing’s National Security Law was imposed on Hong Kong to silence China’s critics.

For the 78-year-old, this is tantamount to a life sentence. I remain deeply concerned for Mr Lai’s health, and I again call on the Hong Kong authorities to end his appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family.

The Prime Minister raised Mr Lai’s case directly with President Xi during his visit. That has opened up discussion of our most acute concerns directly with the Chinese government, at the highest levels. Following today’s sentencing we will rapidly engage further on Mr Lai’s case.

We stand with the people of Hong Kong, and will always honour the historical commitments made under the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration. China must do the same.