United Kingdom bans trade in goods from Israeli settlements
In the United Kingdom, the government has banned trade in goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The decision, which the country adopted together with 11 other states, sparked a sharp reaction from Israel, BBC News World reports.
Among the 12 countries that joined the joint action are France, Spain and Canada. The British measures apply not only to goods from settlements, but also to companies that provide for their construction, infrastructure or financing. They also include restrictions on the sale of weapons that “substantially contribute to the occupation.”
Israel’s response
Israel’s steps in response include closing the British consulate in East Jerusalem, which served the West Bank and worked directly with the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. British representatives were also removed from the International Gaza Support Centre, established last year to coordinate stabilization and humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip.
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said that the country’s economic relations must comply with the 2024 International Court of Justice finding that the occupation as a whole, including the Israeli military presence, is illegal. He called the policy shift a “reset” of British policy.
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Statements from the Palestinian side
Miliband also said that “settler terrorism is flourishing” and has caused the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in some areas of the West Bank. According to him, the Israeli government had “turned a blind eye to this and worse things.”
Palestine’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the countries that imposed sanctions, while calling for “urgent, concrete measures” to end Israel’s settlement policy. Palestinian Ambassador to London Husam Zomlot called the British authorities’ decision a “turning point” in relations between the United Kingdom and Palestine.
BBC News World also reports that six people, including three schoolchildren, were killed this year in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir during a surge in settler-related violence.
