Britain is positioning itself as a key player in the rebuilding of post-war Gaza, with Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer holding a conference in London this week to “drive forward private finance efforts for Gaza’s reconstruction”.
Middle East Eye has spoken to a number of MPs who expressed concerns and even outrage at the Labour government’s approach.
The UK provided arms and intelligence from surveillance flights over Gaza to Israel throughout the latter’s genocide in Gaza, despite a marked deterioration in diplomatic relations over the last year.
Now the government is inviting British firms to compete for contracts to help rebuild Gaza after Israel’s genocide.
Starting on Monday afternoon at the Foreign Office’s Wilton Park centre, the conference is being led by Falconer.
He plans to bring together “representatives from businesses, civil society and governments, to convene crucial planning and coordination efforts for postwar Gaza”, according to Downing Street.
The idea of British firms profiting from Gaza’s reconstruction, given Britain’s collaboration with Israel throughout the genocide, has angered several opposition MPs.
As of Monday, at least 67,938 Palestinians are confirmed to have been killed in the genocide, with that number set to rise considerably as the bodies of those missing are recovered.
“This government has no shame,” former Labour leader and independent MP Jeremy Corbyn told Middle East Eye.
“As if enabling a genocide wasn’t enough. Now, they are allowing private companies to make money out of it as well.”
Corbyn, a key figure in the founding of the upcoming left-wing Your Party, said: “To profiteer from this suffering – from genocide – is sickening.
“The future of Gaza is up to the Palestinian people,” he added.
“They must determine and design the reconstruction of Gaza, paid for by those who committed and enabled its destruction.”
Falconer said in a post on social media platform X: “The rebuilding of Gaza will be one of the most challenging operations in modern times.
“With a ceasefire in place, we must seize this moment.
“That’s why this afternoon I convened partners at Wilton Park to drive forward private finance efforts for Gaza’s reconstruction.”
Labour MP Kim Johnson told MEE she fears a “colonial, top-down approach that prioritises Western interests”.
“What Gaza needs is justice, accountability, and a genuine, people-led process that puts Palestinian voices and self-determination at its core.”
‘Gaza has real economic potential’
Representatives from the Palestinian Authority and Egypt are attending the conference in London this week.
Falconer told attendees that Britain is “backing a Palestinian-led recovery and reconstruction”.
“Gaza, and Palestine more broadly, has real economic potential,” he added in his address.
“Human capital, resilience, a critical location and a global diaspora, including here in the UK. That potential must be unlocked.”
Crucially, Falconer’s rhetoric struck a different tone from the Trump-backed plan, which promotes the idea of a technocratic transitional authority to govern post-war Gaza, which could even see former British Prime Minister Tony Blair take the helm.
“Let’s be clear: Tony Blair should be nowhere near this process,” Kim Johnson told MEE.
“His record in the Middle East speaks for itself – he represents the very failures we must move beyond if there’s to be any hope of a just and lasting peace.”
MP Shockat Adam, a member of the parliamentary Independent Alliance alongside Corbyn, told MEE: “It feels a little distasteful to see images of the UK government hosting meetings to discuss carving up Gaza with financiers.
“The people of Gaza are still digging for the corpses of their loved ones in the rubble of buildings.”
Starmer and the Foreign Office are understood not to have been significant players in working with the Trump administration on its peace plan.
But two British figures who played an instrumental role were Blair and Jonathan Powell, Blair’s former chief of staff and current UK national security adviser.
Powell’s involvement is the bridge between the Labour government and the Trump administration, since he has close ties not only to Blair but also to Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Blair and Kushner reportedly worked closely together on drafting a “peace plan” and proposing it to Trump, who backed the proposal.
“It’s positive to see Britain is investing its energy into reconstructing Gaza, and that has to be welcomed, but there are things that need to be clarified,” Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, told MEE.
He noted that Falconer, during the conference this week, backed the Arab Reconstruction Plan drawn up earlier this year by the Arab League.
“But that conflicts with the Trump points in crucial ways. It is significantly more detailed and viable, and notably includes Palestinian agency in a way that the Trump plan does not.”
‘We cannot allow them to infiltrate’
Falconer said at the conference that Britain brings “deep expertise in private investment and strong links to the City of London” to the table.
He added that the goal is “reconnecting Gaza and the West Bank, economically, politically, socially. And supporting the viability of a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution”.
Doyle said the Labour government should “push back far stronger against those who wish to exclude Palestinian agency.
“There should be absolute clarity that the British view is it is the State of Palestine which should be the lead actor in determining the future of Gaza as part of a Palestinian state.”
Starmer has avoided publicly backing Blair’s involvement in Trump’s peace board, although he praised his predecessor on Monday at the peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, saying he “was a great leader of our country and would make a huge contribution”.
Trump has previously signalled support for Blair helming the transitional authority to oversee Gaza’s governance.
But the US president told reporters on Monday that he wants to “find out that he is an acceptable choice to everybody”.
Independent Alliance MP Iqbal Mohamed told MEE that Gaza’s reconstruction must “have no Israeli say or involvement except through accountability and reparations.
“Britain should prioritise ending arms sales to Israel, ensuring unfettered humanitarian access, and supporting a speedy political solution led by Palestinians.”
Ayoub Khan, also an Independent Alliance MP, said: “Outsourcing the delicate task of nation-building to entities that have been shown to have no regard for moral considerations is just irresponsible.”
He added: “While the world’s political leaders and governments wilfully turned a blind eye, countless corporate entities profited from Israel’s economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and genocide.
“We cannot allow them to infiltrate efforts to wage peace. “
Source: MEE
