As international pressure mounts on illegal settlements in the Palestinian territories, the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement. The ministers said they would ban trade with illegal settlements located in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The statement said Israeli actions in the West Bank were undermining the two-state solution and that the situation was deteriorating. It also drew attention to the violence perpetrated by Israelis seizing Palestinian land and stressed the need to preserve the two-state solution.
United Kingdom to sanction goods and settlement activities
Speaking in Parliament, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced that imports of goods sent to the United Kingdom from illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories would be banned. Miliband also said new measures would be taken against certain individuals and companies contributing to the expansion of the settlements.
Miliband said the United Kingdom government would target construction, infrastructure, financing and real estate services that facilitate the construction and expansion of settlements. He said those helping to establish or expand settlements would face sanctions.
Miliband said approximately 770,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements built in the occupied Palestinian territories, and claimed that approximately 4,000 Palestinians had been displaced within a short period as a result of attacks by the Israeli state and Israelis seeking to seize Palestinian land.
Miliband said the United Kingdom's official position was that the Israeli occupation was unlawful because it sought to make its control permanent, expand its sovereignty and pursue an expansionist policy through illegal settlements. He said this approach would also be reflected in economic relations.
Miliband argued that Israel had exercised its right to self-defense after October 7, 2023. Claiming that Iran continued to threaten Israel and Jews, Miliband said sanctions had been imposed on Iranian institutions and individuals and on groups under Iran's influence.
Miliband said Iran must not possess nuclear weapons and announced that they would refer violations related to Iran's nuclear program to the United Nations Security Council. He also announced new sanctions against Iran and Hezbollah, saying that confronting these threats constituted shared national security concerns with Israel.
Miliband claimed that Jews in the United Kingdom and around the world were living in fear, and said his support for Israel continued and did not conflict with his support for a Palestinian state. Saying that the two-state solution was the only path for Palestinians and Israelis, Miliband said what had happened in Gaza was a stain that would not be erased from the conscience of the world and the United Kingdom.
France to end trade with settlements
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also announced that France would end trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Barrot said the decision was taken because the situation in the West Bank had reached the brink of explosion, the seizure of Palestinian land was continuing and violence against Palestinians was increasing.
Barrot said these developments threatened the two-state solution and called on the Israeli authorities to end illegal settlements and the violence that followed them. He said Europe should also show the same determination.
British diplomats told the United States in private discussions that the decision was largely symbolic and would have no concrete impact on commercial or security ties with Israel, amid concerns that the sanctions decision could lead to a deterioration in United Kingdom–United States relations.
