The United Kingdom has announced sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, accusing the Israeli government of failing to stop settler violence and warning that continued settlement expansion threatens the prospect of a Palestinian
Ed Miliband, Foreign Secretary, said the measures marked the ‘beginning of a new approach’ to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, one that would not only condemn what Britain considers injustice and suffering but also take action against it.
Under the new measures, the UK plans to ban goods produced in Israeli settlements and take action against companies and individuals providing services linked to settlement expansion. Britain will also prohibit advertising for illegal West Bank settlements in the UK.
Miliband said a comprehensive sanctions regime would be introduced over the next six to nine months, while several individuals described as extremist settlers would face sanctions immediately.
‘The sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel,’ Miliband told MPs.
The move was announced jointly with France and Canada, which said the measures represented ‘a further turning point’ in their approach to protecting the two state solution.
The announcement followed Israel’s decision to advance plans for about 1,200 new settlement homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem. Miliband warned that development in the strategically important area could make a two state solution unviable by cutting through the centre of a future Palestinian state.
Israel strongly rejected the British move.
Gideon Saar, the Foreign Minister accused Miliband of spreading an ‘outrageous lie’ and announced retaliatory measures, including the closure of Britain’s consulate in East Jerusalem.
Israel will also ban 11 British MPs, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, from entering the country, citing what Saar described as antisemitic and anti Israel activity. British representatives involved in a US led Gaza coordination mission will also be removed, while some UK support for training Palestinian Authority forces will be terminated.
President Isaac Herzog said the British decision would ‘fall on the wrong side of history’, arguing that sanctions would harm Palestinians and calling instead for dialogue.
The United States also distanced itself from the measures. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would not block imports from Israeli settlements, while, Mike Huckabee US Ambassador to Israel warned that Washington could respond to the British action.
Britain’s move has also drawn criticism at home. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis described it as ‘a dark day for British Jews’, while the Board of Deputies of British Jews expressed deep regret over the decision.
The Palestinian presidency, however, welcomed the sanctions as an important step against Israel’s settlement policy.
Israel has built about 160 settlements housing roughly 700,000 Israelis in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where about 3.3 million Palestinians live. Settlement expansion and settler attacks have intensified since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
The UK says the measures are aimed at protecting the prospect of two states living alongside each other, while Israel maintains that any final settlement must be reached through direct negotiations with the Palestinians.