Settlement restrictions deepen diplomatic crisis between Israel and Western countries
Israel has ordered the United Kingdom’s consulate in occupied East Jerusalem to close within 30 days and ended several forms of British cooperation after 12 countries announced or considered restrictions on goods from Israeli settlements.
Twelve countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, announced on 8 September that they would introduce, support or consider restrictions on goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The measures remain at the announcement or consideration stage, with the source not specifying the position of each country.
Israel responded within 24 hours by ordering the UK consulate in occupied East Jerusalem to close within 30 days. It also ended British training for Palestinian Authority security forces, removed British staff from a Gaza coordination centre in Kiryat Gat and barred 12 British public figures, including 11 members of parliament.
The diplomatic rupture unfolded alongside continued violence and deteriorating humanitarian conditions. Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported 73,786 deaths and 174,771 injuries since October 2023, including 1,372 deaths since last October’s ceasefire. The figures have not been independently verified here.
Basic services in Gaza faced mounting shortages. Al-Ahli Arab Hospital said its main generator had failed because of a lack of oil and spare parts, suspending its imaging department and the only functioning CT scanner in northern Gaza. Gaza’s public bus operators’ union also said it would suspend transport for medical staff because of shortages of replacement parts and fuel.
In the West Bank, reports described continuing settler violence, land seizures and movement restrictions. Israeli rights groups Yesh Din, Bimkom and HaMoked said in a joint report that the developments formed a continuous process amounting to “de facto annexation”. A newly released B’Tselem report characterised Israel’s broader system of control as a “project of elimination”, a description attributed to the organisation.
