Israel has ordered the closure of Britain’s consulate in East Jerusalem — a mission accredited to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank — in a swift response to the UK’s decision to impose sanctions on goods originating from Israeli settlements.
The move comes as 12 countries, including Britain, Canada and France, said they would clamp down on trade linked to Israeli settlements in the West Bank after a rise in attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages across the occupied territory.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK — alongside Canada and France — said they intend to limit trade with settlements.
Ireland and Spain have already introduced measures targeting trade with Israeli settlements.
France, for its part, has spent weeks urging the European Union — Israel’s biggest trading partner — to adopt sanctions, but the effort has been held up by opposition from some EU member states.
“The government of Israel’s actions in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-state solution,” the 12 ministers said, referring to the long-standing framework envisioning separate Israeli and Palestinian states living side by side in peace.
Warning that conditions on the ground are worsening, they said the “situation is rapidly deteriorating amid unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion.”
They also called on Israel to “immediately halt the expansion of settlements and civilian administrative powers, ensure accountability for settler violence, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces,” according to the statement.
Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in Tapuach Junction, West Bank
The ministers said the 12 countries “confirm their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law, or that they are actively considering these and other measures, in accordance with their national procedures”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar confirmed the consulate’s closure in retaliation and said Britain would no longer be allowed to take part in the US-led coordination mission for Gaza.
Israel will also end British training of Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank.
In addition, the Israeli government has barred 12 British individuals — including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn — from entering the country.
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McEntee welcomes sanctions announcement
In a statement, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Helen McEntee said she welcomed the decision announced by the 12 countries.
“More and more countries are committing to taking action on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“I welcome today’s announcement by the UK, France and a number of other countries, adding to the measures already taken by Ireland and Spain,” she wrote on X.
More and more countries are committing to taking action on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. I welcome today’s announcement by the UK, France and a number of other countries, adding to the measures already taken by Ireland and Spain. pic.twitter.com/Kk741UCgDW
— Helen McEntee TD (@HMcEntee) September 8, 2026
McEntee said she would “continue to push for the EU to prohibit trade with settlements in line with its obligations under international law.”
“We are working closely with our international partners to protect the two-state solution, which is the only realistic path to a peaceful settlement,” she added.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
That view was reinforced in a 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion, which concluded that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful.
Jewish settlers working at a winery at the Jewish Settlement of Yitzhar in the West Bank
UK accuses Israel of turning blind eye to ‘ethnic cleansing’
The UK has accused the Israeli government of turning a blind eye to the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians, as foreign secretary Ed Miliband set out sanctions targeting illegal West Bank settlements.
Israel and the United States both criticised the British policy, which includes a ban on imports from illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and sanctions on individuals and firms that provide services to settlers.
Mr Miliband told MPs the government now believes the occupation itself is unlawful — a shift from the earlier stance that focused on the illegality of the settlements alone.
He also said there was growing evidence Israel had committed war crimes in Gaza, though he stopped short of accusing Israel of genocide, maintaining the UK position that such a finding is for international courts to determine.
The change in London’s posture under Prime Minister Andy Burnham has already drawn a sharp response from US President Donald Trump’s White House and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr Miliband said the “new approach” was driven in part by plans for the E1 development in the West Bank, which he warned would make a two-state solution “unviable” by “cutting through the heart of Palestine”.
Ed Miliband pictured arriving in Downing Street this morning to attend a weekly cabinet meeting
He said Mr Netanyahu’s government had approved more settlements in four years than were approved over the previous 20, and described settler terrorism in the West Bank as “rampant”.
“The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank – perpetrated by settler terrorists,” Mr Miliband told the House of Commons.
“And all too often the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians.”
As he unveiled an import ban on goods from illegal settlements, Mr Miliband said: “I do not believe the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets.”
He said the government would introduce a new, comprehensive sanctions regime aimed at companies and individuals supplying services — including financing and construction — that enable the settlements.
The measures also include a ban on advertising illegal settlements in the UK.
Mr Miliband said the legislation underpinning the new regime could take as long as nine months to implement, but pledged immediate sanctions on “extremist settlers who have supported or incited acts of violence”.
He added that the UK would now reject any export applications for weapons and equipment that would “materially contribute to the occupation”.
Turning to Gaza, Mr Miliband said the enclave had endured “the most unimaginable trauma and suffering” — describing it as “a stain on the conscience of the world and of this country too”.
Palestinians inspect a home destroyed by the Israel army in the occupied West Bank
In a pointed contrast with the administration of Keir Starmer, in which he served, Mr Miliband said Prime Minister Andy Burnham was “right to say that the Labour government has not done enough in the face of what is happening”.
He acknowledged Israel’s “right not to live in fear of vile terrorism” and to defend its people and territory after the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023.
“But that cannot justify what has happened in Gaza,” he said.
As sanctions loomed, some US and Israeli figures floated the prospect of retaliation.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called the policy an “irrational action”.
“I feel like it’s discrimination against the Israeli government. It’s a discrimination against the Jewish people,” he told the BBC.
“I also would tell you that I don’t know if they have thought it through. It’s like throwing a stone and not having an idea of where it’s going to land.
“And I realise, look, the UK is a sovereign country; they can do what they want, but so is the US,” Mr Huckabee said.
UK sanctions ‘would be a gross interference’ – Herzog
Israeli president Isaac Herzog said UK sanctions “would be a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation” as Israel heads to the polls next month.
He also argued the measures would end up harming Palestinians.
“If this happens – and other nations may join – I believe it will prove to be a grave miscalculation, a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history,” he said.
There has been increasing attacks against Palestinian villages in the West Bank in recent weeks
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right public security minister, urged Mr Netanyahu to publicly recognise the Falkland Islands as “Argentine territory under occupation, which the British violently steal from the Argentine people”.
“I call upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognise Argentina’s sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and to impose sanctions on Great Britain as long as the occupation continues,” he said on social media.
Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, meanwhile called for the British ambassador to be expelled.
“Expel the British ambassador tonight!,” he wrote on X.
“We will not be a doormat trampled by an antisemitic government, in a country conquered by radical Islam, trying to save itself from economic and social decline by attacking Jews and the State of Israel.
“The British Mandate in the Land of Israel is over,” he added.
Additional reporting PA
