Overview
- Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on Tuesday that the UK will set out a “comprehensive set of measures” in the coming weeks to respond to Israeli settlement activity that he says threatens a Palestinian state.
- Options under active consideration include bans on goods from settlements, targeted sanctions on companies and individuals linked to settlement expansion, and suspension of arms export licences, according to government statements and a legal briefing by civil society groups.
- Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, warned that Israel would “act against Britain” if measures are imposed, and press reports say Jerusalem has explored expelling British personnel from the US‑led Gaza coordination centre in Kiryat Gat.
- Officials and analysts say implementing a settlements‑goods ban would be legally and practically hard because of difficulties tracing product origin, risks to Palestinian and lawful Israeli traders, and potential friction with US anti‑boycott rules.
- The push follows publication of tenders for housing in the strategic E1 area east of Jerusalem that campaigners say would sever West Bank contiguity, and it builds on June UK sanctions that targeted actors linked to settler violence.