Twelve countries led by the United Kingdom, France and Canada announced Tuesday they will restrict trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, in one of the most significant coordinated diplomatic actions against Israeli settlement policy in years. Israel responded within hours by closing the British consulate that serves Palestinians in East Jerusalem and barring entry to a group of British nationals.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the UK, France, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden said they would introduce national restrictions on trade in goods with West Bank settlements, support European Union-wide restrictions, or actively consider such measures depending on their own domestic procedures. The statement said the settlements are illegal under international law and that “the Government of Israel’s actions in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-state solution.”
What Happened
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced the most concrete step, telling Parliament the UK would introduce an import ban on all goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Miliband told lawmakers the government believed there was “ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists,” and said the UK would also act against specific companies and individuals providing construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate services for settlement expansion. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed France would take similar action, describing the West Bank as “on the brink of explosion” given the pace of settlement expansion and settler violence.
The 12 countries cited what they called an unprecedented level of settler violence and settlement expansion, including Israel’s decision to publish tenders for roughly 1,200 housing units in the E1 settlement area, which the statement called unacceptable. The E1 project has drawn international criticism because it would extend Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem’s separation from the rest of the West Bank, a development critics say would make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible.
Latest Developments
Israel condemned the move and announced retaliatory steps against Britain specifically. According to Israeli officials, Israel will close the British consulate in East Jerusalem that serves Palestinians, remove British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat, halt British training of Palestinian Authority security forces, and bar entry to 12 British nationals, reportedly including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and MPs Zarah Sultana and Diane Abbott. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the expulsion of Britain’s ambassador to Israel.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog separately criticized the UK-led effort, saying at a ceremony in Jerusalem that if other countries joined the move, it would prove to be “a grave miscalculation, a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States would not join the sanctions, calling the idea a nonstarter for Washington.
Key Facts
- Twelve countries, led by the UK, France and Canada, announced restrictions on trade with Israeli West Bank settlements on Tuesday.
- The UK is introducing an outright import ban on settlement goods; other countries’ commitments vary between national and EU-level restrictions.
- Israel closed the British consulate serving Palestinians in East Jerusalem and barred entry to 12 British nationals in response.
- The UN Human Rights Office recorded 80 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage in the West Bank between August 11 and August 24.
- The US said it will not join the sanctions on Israeli settlements.
Reactions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue establishing settlements despite the international pressure. Palestinian officials have not issued an extensive public response, though the move follows recent violence including the fatal shooting of a Palestinian man by settlers near Qalqilya on September 7 and the fatal stabbing of an Israeli settler by a Palestinian assailant near Qusra on September 8, whom Israeli forces later located and killed.
Background
The announcement follows the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state earlier this year and comes amid mounting international criticism of both settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has intensified since Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage; since then, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, according to figures cited by international news organizations. Israel has previously rejected claims that its settlement policy amounts to ethnic cleansing, characterizing settlement activity as consistent with historical and legal claims to the territory.
Why It Matters
The scale of Tuesday’s coordinated action, involving a dozen governments including three of Israel’s traditionally closer Western allies, marks a significant shift in how some US partners are responding to the situation in the West Bank, even as the United States itself declines to join. Israel’s swift retaliation against Britain specifically signals it intends to treat the move as a serious diplomatic breach rather than a symbolic gesture, raising the prospect of further tit-for-tat measures between Israel and the participating countries.
What Happens Next
It remains unclear how quickly the announced restrictions will be implemented across the 12 countries, given that some have only pledged to “actively consider” measures rather than commit to them outright. Attention will likely turn to whether the European Union pursues bloc-wide restrictions, and whether Israel expands its retaliatory measures beyond Britain to other participating countries.
Sources: Al Jazeera, Time, Taipei Times (AFP), The Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Al-Monitor.
