UK announces sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in West Bank
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemned alleged settler violence and ethnic cleansing, announcing a reported ban on goods produced in Israeli settlements.
The United Kingdom has condemned Israeli settler violence and alleged ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank, while announcing sweeping trade sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described the measures as a “comprehensive reset” of UK policy. The reported package includes a ban on goods produced by Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The UK said the measures are directed at settlements and their expansion, rather than Israel or its people. The reported policy shift also includes tougher restrictions on arms sales to Israel and wider human-rights sanctions.
Miliband referred to “settler terrorism” and killings in Gaza. The Guardian described his statement as the strongest condemnation of Israeli government actions by a British government.
The supplied material does not set out the sanctions’ detailed scope, legal basis or implementation date. It also presents ethnic cleansing as an allegation and political characterisation, rather than an independently established finding.
