British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described the suffering of Palestinians under Israel’s government as “a stain on the conscience of the world” during a speech at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.

Miliband received a standing ovation as he said the government led by Prime Minister Andy Burnham had significantly changed its approach to Israel and the Palestinians.

“We call out ethnic cleansing by the settler terrorists in the West Bank,” he said. “We call out the evidence of war crimes in Gaza. We call out Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.”

Miliband also emphasized Britain’s intention to halt trade with Israeli settlements, saying, “We will disrupt the supply lines of British finance, British construction and British services for illegal settlements.”

He said Britain’s decision to impose sanctions on Israelis living beyond the Green Line had “mobilized the international community: country after country.”

The foreign secretary also condemned “Hamas’s murderous attack on October 7th,” while stressing that the Labour Party “will always recognize the threats Israel faces and stand emphatically against those who seek its destruction.”

However, Miliband argued that Hamas’s 2023 attack did not excuse the actions of Israel’s government in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. He said the invasion “cannot justify the suffering the Netanyahu government has inflicted in Gaza and the West Bank. This suffering is a stain on the conscience of the world.”

Miliband also addressed Iran, pledging continued British efforts to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“We will stand up to prevent a nuclear Iran through economic sanctions,” says Miliband. “We will act against the proxies of Iran. And we will continue to isolate Iran so that they reopen the Strait of Hormuz.”