Britain bans imports from illegal settlements and targets those facilitating expansion, as Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accuses Israeli government of turning a blind eye to ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians.
The United Kingdom has announced a package of sanctions targeting illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, marking a significant shift in British policy and prompting an angry response from Israel, including the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem.
In a statement to parliament on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the measures represent “the beginning of a new approach” that goes beyond rhetoric to protect the viability of a two-state solution. The UK will ban the import of goods produced in illegal settlements, introduce new powers to designate and sanction individuals and companies that support, facilitate or profit from settlement activity-including in construction, infrastructure, financing and real estate-and prohibit the advertising or promotion of land and property in those settlements.
UK Sanctions Israel Over West Bank Settler Violence:
Miliband told lawmakers that the British government “agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank-perpetrated by settler terrorists.” He added that “all too often the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse,” with some members of the Israeli government making statements and taking actions that support the forced displacement of Palestinians.
The sanctions were coordinated with France and Canada, and backed by a joint statement from 12 countries-including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden-confirming their intention to introduce or support restrictions on trade with settlements that are illegal under international law. The UK measures are expected to take six to nine months to fully implement, though immediate sanctions will target extremist settlers involved in violence.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the move in strong terms, accusing Miliband of spreading an “outrageous lie.” In response, Israel announced it would close the British consulate in East Jerusalem, which represents UK interests in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Saar also said Britain would no longer participate in a US-led coordination mission for Gaza and that certain British MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott, would be banned from entering Israel, accusing them of “antisemitic and anti-Israel activity.”
“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.”
UK Targets Israeli Settlements:
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham emphasised that the targeted measures were “aimed not at the Israeli people, but in support of the two-state solution.” The government has stressed that the sanctions regime focuses on illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not on Israel itself.
The announcement comes amid record settlement expansion under the current Israeli government, including approval of new settlements and plans for the E1 project, which critics say would further fragment the West Bank and undermine prospects for a contiguous Palestinian state. Settlements are considered illegal under international law, a position long held by the United Kingdom and most of the international community.
Palestinian officials and rights groups have welcomed the move as a long-overdue step to hold Israel accountable for policies that have accelerated land seizures, settler violence and the displacement of Palestinian communities. Human rights organisations have documented a sharp rise in attacks by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank in recent months, often with limited accountability from Israeli authorities.
The sanctions form part of a broader recalibration by several Western governments after the devastating war in Gaza and ongoing violence in the West Bank. While the economic impact of the trade ban is expected to be limited in the short term-settlement goods represent a small fraction of UK-Israel trade-the political signal is clear: traditional allies are increasingly willing to impose concrete costs for settlement activity that they say threatens the possibility of lasting peace.
As Israel prepares countermeasures and the UK begins the legislative process for the new regime, the dispute underscores the deepening diplomatic isolation faced by the Israeli government over its policies in the occupied territories.