Great Britain announced sanctions against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and said that the new regime will target illegal settlements and their expansion, not Israel as a whole. In the next six to nine months, London will also introduce a new comprehensive sanctions regime and ban advertising of illegal settlements in Great Britain.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called the move “the beginning of a new approach” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said that the British government considers what is happening in parts of the West Bank to be “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians. He repeated that, in London’s view, the occupation of the West Bank is illegal because of the “entrenchment of control”, the intention to extend permanent sovereignty, and an “expansionist agenda” through illegal settlements.
Miliband linked the decision to Israel’s tenders for the construction of about 1,200 homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, which is considered strategically important. According to him, this project will make the two-state solution unviable, “cutting Palestine in two”.
In a joint statement with France, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden, Great Britain reaffirmed its commitment to the two-state solution. The countries said they are ready to introduce national measures or support European restrictions on trade in goods from settlements in the West Bank.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar called Miliband’s words “outrageous lies” and announced retaliatory measures, including the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem. He also announced a ban on entry to Israel for 11 British MPs, among them Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott, and all five current MPs from the Green Party.
Sa'ar separately said that the Israeli side would withdraw British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel and end British training programs for Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank. On the same day, Miliband announced sanctions against the financial wing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and new restrictions on Iran.
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