The Green Party is the first political party in England and Wales to officially recognise Israel’s actions in Gaza as apartheid and genocide.

Members of the party voted for the motion during their conference in Manchester

The conference also reaffirmed support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.  

The party secured a historic victory in the July general election, winning four parliamentary seats after prominently featuring Gaza-related issues in their campaign across several constituencies.

The party said: “We affirm our commitment to explicitly supporting BDS in our internal and external communications going forward.

“Supporting the BDS movement is essential to holding Israel accountable, to supporting Palestinians’ rights to equality and self-determination, and to demonstrating that our support, as a nation, is not performative.

“We will only see an end to the escalating violence in the Middle East when there are clear incentives for all involved in the war in Gaza to agree to a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and an end to the occupation.  

“We will press the UK government to step up its actions, including suspending all arms export licenses to Israel, and full co-operation with the actions of the international courts. 

“Without an agreement, the intolerable death toll in Gaza will continue to rise, the hostages will be at greater risk and there will be an increased chance of sleepwalking into a larger regional war.” 

The Greens were among the few parties to call for a ceasefire as early as October.

The motion was put forward by a newly formed group called Greens for Palestine. 

Leeds Green councillor Mothin Ali, who was one of the party members to propose the motion, said the party “made history” on X.