US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington had decided to continue trading with Israeli settlers in the West Bank and would not adopt the restrictions imposed by the United Kingdom.
Speaking to reporters in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday before traveling to Colombia, Rubio addressed the decision by 12 countries to restrict trade with settlements in the West Bank. He said the US would “clearly not do what the United Kingdom has done.”
Rubio said Washington had no intention of taking steps similar to those taken by the United Kingdom against Israeli settlers. He said they had seen the statement by the 12 countries but would not comment on the issue at that time.
Concerns over escalation in the West Bank
Rubio said they did not want violence, conflict or tensions in the West Bank to escalate further, adding that they were concerned about a possible escalation in the area. He said the region was going through a sensitive period.
The foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom announced in a joint statement issued under the heading of a two-state solution that they had imposed restrictions on trade in goods with settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Settlement activity in the West Bank
According to Palestinian figures, the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu approved the establishment of 104 new settlements since it was formed in late 2022. During the same period, 160 agricultural outposts were established in the West Bank.
The Palestinian government’s Commission Against the Wall and Settlements announced that settlers had carried out 3,488 attacks in the West Bank during the first half of 2026.
According to the commission’s figures, 17 Palestinians were killed in these attacks, 26 Bedouin and pastoral communities were fully or partially displaced, and 42 new outposts were established.
About 750,000 Israeli settlers live in 194 settlements and 400 outposts in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Legal status of the occupied territories
Settler attacks and Israeli army raids continue in the West Bank, while the war in the Gaza Strip has continued since October 2023. The West Bank and East Jerusalem have been under Israeli occupation since 1967.
The international community considers Israeli settlements established in the occupied territories contrary to international law. Israel rejects this assessment.
Historical disputes over the displacement of at least 750,000 Palestinians since the process that led to Israel’s establishment in 1948 also form part of the background to tensions in the region.
