Diplomacy & Geopolitics
US will not join UK-led Israeli settlement sanctions
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the United States would not join UK-led sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements, after 12 countries announced measures targeting settlements in the West Bank.
“Obviously, we're not going to do what the UK did,” Rubio told journalists before leaving on a trip to Latin America. He added: “We don't want to see anything destabilizing going on right now in the West Bank with so much going on in the region.”
Britain, Canada, France and nine other countries announced earlier Tuesday that they would impose sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Their foreign ministers said actions by Israel’s government in the West Bank were undermining the possibility of a two-state solution.
The measures followed weeks of increasing attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank. The violence has drawn widespread international condemnation.
Israel ordered the closure of Britain’s consulate in Jerusalem in retaliation for the sanctions effort.
Update
Twelve countries including Britain, Canada and France announced sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank earlier Tuesday.
The foreign ministers of the 12 countries said Israeli government actions in the West Bank were undermining the possibility of a two-state solution.
The sanctions followed weeks of increasing attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages, according to the item.
Israel ordered the closure of Britain's consulate in Jerusalem in retaliation for the sanctions effort.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 September 2026 at 15:45:08 UTC.
Update
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States would not join the UK-led sanctions.
Rubio said Washington did not want anything destabilising the West Bank.
Rubio made the remarks to journalists before departing on a trip to Latin America.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 September 2026 at 15:28:16 UTC.
Source
AFP news report published on .