Formal complaint: UK-registered charities funding illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – request for a statutory inquiry

12th June 2026

Dear Sirs

Formal complaint: UK-registered charities funding illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – request for a statutory inquiry

I am writing on behalf of Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) to express our grave concern regarding reports that charities registered in England and Wales have directed substantial funds towards Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

We write in grave concern at reports that charities registered in England and Wales have directed substantial funds towards Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Recent investigations indicate that thirty-two charities registered in England and Wales have donated at least £28 million to projects connected to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. These findings raise serious questions about compliance with charity law, the public benefit requirement, and the integrity of the charitable sector.

The United Kingdom’s position on this matter is clear and longstanding. The Government holds that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on 10th June 2026, the Prime Minister told the House of Commons that settlements are “a flagrant breach of international law, and no UK charity should be supporting them.” We further understand that the Foreign Secretary has written to the Commission urging it to investigate the links between UK charities and settlements, and that the Middle East Minister has met you directly to discuss these concerns. In this context, it is deeply troubling that charitable funds raised in the United Kingdom may have been used to support, maintain or facilitate settlement activity.

The illegality of these settlements is not a matter of political opinion but of settled international law. In its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, the International Court of Justice confirmed that Israel’s settlement policy in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is contrary to international law, and that third States are under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the unlawful situation it has created. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. We note that the Commission has itself previously invoked the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 in statutory guidance issued to the trustees of at least one of the charities in question – a standard it is now bound to apply consistently.

It is well established that a charity’s purposes must be exclusively charitable and for the public benefit (Charities Act 2011, sections 1 to 4), and that a purpose which is unlawful or contrary to public policy cannot in law be charitable. Activity that materially supports the maintenance or expansion of settlements that are unlawful under international law cannot, in our submission, satisfy the public benefit requirement. On the contrary, it risks bringing charity into disrepute and exposing trustees to the risk of facilitating breaches of international law.

The case of UK Toremet and the Kasner Charitable Trust is instructive. It has been reported that in 2022 UK Toremet donated £38,479 to Regavim, a pro-settler organisation that campaigns for the demolition of Palestinian property and the expansion of settlements, and which the European Union has since sanctioned under its Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. This is not a new concern for the Commission: by its own account, it has undertaken three separate regulatory compliance cases concerning UK Toremet’s activities in Palestine since 2016, issuing its trustees with statutory guidance and an action plan. Despite this, the transfers continued. That history demonstrates that incremental, reactive regulation has failed, and that a full statutory inquiry is now warranted.

The public-finance implications are equally serious. Where Gift Aid has been claimed on these donations in the ordinary way, the UK taxpayer may have indirectly subsidised settlement-linked activity by approximately £5.6 million. We recognise that the administration of Gift Aid falls to HMRC rather than the Commission. We ask that the Commission refer this dimension to HMRC as a matter of urgency.

Beyond questions of legality, these matters go to public trust and confidence in the charitable sector. That confidence depends upon the assurance that charitable status (and the tax advantages that accompany it) is not used to support activity that conflicts with the law, with public policy, or with the purposes for which charitable status is granted.

We therefore urge the Commission to:

• Open a statutory inquiry under section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 into all charities alleged to have directed funds towards Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, beginning with, but not limited to, UK Toremet and the Kasner Charitable Trust.
• Refer the Gift Aid dimension to HMRC, and take all steps within the Commission’s powers to ensure that public funds are not, directly or indirectly, subsidising activity in unlawful settlements.
• Assess whether the purposes and activities of the charities concerned remain exclusively charitable and for the public benefit, and, where they do not, take all appropriate remedial action up to and including removal from the register.
• Examine the conduct of trustees and their compliance with their legal duties, including under the Geneva Conventions Act 1957.
• Publish its findings, and confirm to us the steps it intends to take and the timeframe within which it will act.

In light of the UK’s clear position on the illegality of settlements and recent sanctions announced against groups connected to settler violence, it is imperative that the Commission acts decisively to protect public confidence in the charitable sector and ensure compliance with charity law.

Yours sincerely,

Abdullah Saif

Head of Community Engagement