British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused the Israeli government on Tuesday of “turning a blind eye” to “ethnic cleansing” being carried out by settlers in the West Bank, announcing a ban on imports of goods from settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“The British government recognizes that ethnic cleansing is underway in the West Bank, perpetrated by terrorist settlers. And all too often, the Israeli government turns a blind eye to this situation. Worse still, some of its members have made statements and taken measures aimed at supporting the forced displacement of Palestinians,” Miliband said while speaking in the House of Commons.
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“Therefore, I can announce today that we will impose a ban on the import of products from illegal settlements in the occupied territories,” he said, in a coordinated move with other countries.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of twelve countries announced “sanctions on trade in goods with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank” in protest of settler violence against Palestinians and the expansion of settlements.
“Today, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden reaffirm their intention to impose national restrictions on trade in goods with settlements that are illegal under international law, or to support Europeanrestrictions on this basis, or that they are seriously considering the possibility of adopting such restrictions or other measures in accordance with their national procedures,” as emphasized in the statement released by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
As Mr. Miliband stated in the House of Commons, Britain can no longer simply “denounce” injustice and suffering, noting that the country must now “take action” to oppose the expansion of settlements.
“Today, we refuse to be bystanders to further suffering and the destruction of the two-state solution,” Mr. Miliband said.
The impact on annual bilateral trade, worth 6 billion pounds, is likely to be minimal, with unclear details on how the United Kingdom will distinguish between goods originating from West Bank settlements and products manufactured in Israel.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, for his part, warned that Britain would find itself “on the wrong side of history” if it imposes sanctions on Jewish settlements in the West Bank, just hours before London announced the relevant measures.
“If that happens, and other countries follow suit, I believe it will be a serious miscalculation and a decision that will place them on the wrong side of history,” Herzog said during a speech in Jerusalem.
“Sanctions are not the solution. Dialogue is needed. I say to all foreign governments: Stop! Do not follow the dead-end path of sanctions and boycotts,” Herzog said.
The Israeli president also stated that announcing such measures just a few weeks before Israel’s parliamentary elections would constitute “a clear interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign state.”
“It serves no one. Unfortunately, it also harms the Palestinians” by depriving them of economic opportunities, he noted.
Britain’s measures are part of a growing sense of outrage among Western countries over the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Apart from East Jerusalem, which has been occupied and annexed by Israel, more than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements in the West Bank among approximately three million Palestinians. The UN considers these settlements illegal under international law.
Moreover, violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has skyrocketed since Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip, with nearly daily raids on villages, intimidation, and harassment of Palestinians.
At the same time, the Palestinian Authority welcomed the announcement of sanctions by Western countries against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, calling it an “important step” toward holding the Israeli authorities.
Following the announcement by the twelve countries, the Palestinian presidency issued a statement calling for “the swift translation of these positions into binding measures” to “ensure that the Israeli government is held accountable for its violations.”
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Source: KYPE/ANA-MPA
