UK set to announce Israeli settlement sanctions

Britain's government was expected on Tuesday to announce measures targeting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, minister Pat McFadden said.

McFadden said Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband would make a statement to parliament setting out “measures specifically targeted at the expansion of these settlements, which are illegal under international law in the West Bank”. He did not give details.

He told Sky News the changes would be aimed at keeping alive the possibility of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. He also said Israel remained an important trading partner for Britain and that the move was not intended to be a boycott of all Israeli goods.

UK ministers have suggested recently that goods from settlements could be subject to trade restrictions. Miliband last Tuesday promised a “comprehensive” reset of policy towards Israel and condemned what he called “appalling settler terrorism” in the West Bank.

Miliband called Israel's E1 development plan for more than 1,200 homes, approved last year, “the crossing of a red line”, saying it risked making a Palestinian state unviable.

The expected announcement would mark a tougher stance by the UK under Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who entered Downing Street in July after Keir Starmer stepped down.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep establishing settlements despite international pressure. More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank among about three million Palestinians.

According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data, Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 1,105 Palestinians in the West Bank, including militants and civilians, since the Gaza war began in October 2023.