UK sanctions West Bank settlements, drawing Israeli reprisals

Britain will ban goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and impose sanctions on people and companies tied to settlement expansion, a major policy shift that drew an angry response from Israel, including plans to close the UK consulate in East Jerusalem.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Parliament the measures marked the “beginning of a new approach” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one that “not only calls out injustice and suffering but acts.” He said the sanctions would be introduced over the next six to nine months and would target “illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel.”

The package includes a ban on imports from illegal settlements, sanctions on organisations, businesses and individuals providing construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate services for settlement expansion, and a ban on advertising illegal West Bank settlement properties in the UK. Al Jazeera reported that all new export licences for weapons and other exports that “materially contribute to the occupation” will be refused, while products and services from Israel itself are exempt.

Miliband said the British government agreed that “there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists.” He accused Israel’s government of turning a blind eye to settler violence and said some of its members had “made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians.”

He said Britain’s official position is that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is unlawful because of the “entrenchment of its control, its intention to extend permanent sovereignty, and its expansionist agenda via illegal settlements.” Settlements are illegal under international law.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Miliband of spreading an “outrageous lie” and announced countermeasures. Israel said it would close the UK consulate in East Jerusalem, remove British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat and end British activities training Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank, which Israel’s government refers to as Judea and Samaria. The BBC reported that Saar said 11 UK MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and all five Green Party MPs, would be barred from entering Israel; Al Jazeera reported that 12 British MPs would be banned.

“We know that we have many friends in Britain,” Saar said. “Unfortunately, we have a hostile Labour government that is consistently operating against the State of Israel, and it has left us no choice but to respond to its hostile actions.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the decision would “fall on the wrong side of history” and called it “a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation.” He said sanctions would directly harm Palestinians and urged “constructive dialogue” instead.

The UK acted alongside France and Canada, saying the move “marks a further turning point in our approach to protecting the two-state solution.” Britain also joined France, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden in a statement committing to national measures or support for European restrictions on trade with settlement goods.

The announcement follows Israeli tenders for about 1,200 settlement homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem. Miliband said the development would make a two-state solution “unviable” by “cutting through the heart of Palestine.”

Miliband also said war crimes “appear to have been committed” in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, while adding that courts must determine whether Israel has committed genocide. Israel’s leaders have rejected allegations of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, saying Israeli forces operate in accordance with international law.

In the same statement, Miliband announced sanctions on the financing wing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and new sanctions on Iran aligned with the United States and European Union. He also said Hamas must dismantle its weapons and “terrorist infrastructure” and can play no role in Gaza’s future governance.