Britain, France, others to impose sanctions on Israel over West Bank settlements; Israel reacts

Britain, France, and Canada have announced plans to impose sanctions on goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank over the continuous attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians.

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The countries announced this in a joint statement, also signed by nine other countries, issued on Tuesday. The other countries are: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

According to the signatories, Israel’s actions in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-state solution and mark a turning point in the approach to protecting the two-state solution.

“The situation is rapidly deteriorating amid unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion,” the statement read.

“The government of Israel must immediately halt the expansion of settlements and civilian administrative powers, ensure accountability for settler violence, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces,” it also said.

The British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Edward Miliband, also accused the Netanyahu-led government of tacitly backing ethnic cleansing.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would “not stand by” as horrific suffering continued, while the UK remained hesitant to act out of the fear of “being accused of being anti-Israel.”

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“The suffering of the Palestinian people is a scar on the conscience of the world. Innocent Palestinians, including children, continue to be killed in Gaza. And there is still a humanitarian crisis, with far too little aid getting in,” he wrote.

Part of the UK sanctions is a ban on the importation of goods produced in the occupied West Bank.

In response, Israel ordered the closure of the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem.

On Tuesday, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, announced retaliatory measures which included the closure of the consulate and entry bans on several British members of parliament.

Israel’s sanctions

Israel imposed entry bans on British parliamentarians, including the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

However, the ban only affects the British consulate in Sheikh Jarrah. The consulate focuses on Palestinian issues in the occupied territories, including Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.

The UK ambassador to Israel is based in the British embassy in Tel Aviv.

Israel also disclosed that it was terminating British involvement in the training of Palestinian security forces on the West Bank.

It also said Britain will no ‌longer participate in a US-led coordination mission for Gaza.

The Israeli foreign minister called Britain morally distorted. It described the UK action as blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process.

“Israel has nothing against the British people. We know that we have many friends in Britain,” he said. “A hostile Labour government is in office, systematically acting against the state of Israel, and left us with no choice but to respond to its hostile actions.”

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Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, called the ban “a grave miscalculation, a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history.”

According to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the trade ban is a grave miscalculation that will put Britain on the wrong side of history.

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who is a staunch supporter of the settlements, said the British sanctions were discrimination against the Jews, and warned that the UK could face retaliation from the US.

However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio simply declared that Washington would ‌not follow Britain, France, and Canada in blocking ⁠imports from Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory.

He also said the US did not want to see moves that would destabilise the West Bank.