12 countries including France, UK say will sanction trade with Israeli

Twelve countries including Britain, Canada and France announced Tuesday they would sanction trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, after increasing attacks by settlers against Palestinians in the occupied territory.

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden also plan to issue restrictions on trade with the settlements, the nations’ foreign ministers said in a joint statement.

The action follows weeks of increasing attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages in the illegally occupied territory that has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community.

Ireland and Spain have already taken measures against trade with Israeli settlements, and France has for weeks been pushing for a similar decision from the European Union, Israel’s leading trading partner, but has been blocked by some members.

The 12 ministers said actions by the Israeli government in the West Bank was "undermining the possibility of a two-state solution" referring to a plan under which two states -- one Israeli and one Palestinian -- would live peacefully side by side.

"The situation is rapidly deteriorating amid unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion," they warned.

The E1 settlement plan -- approved by Israel last year after decades of being frozen, notably due to pressure from successive US administrations -- would see 1,200 housing units built in the West Bank.

It would further isolate Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied territory.

During an address to the UK parliament, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused the Israeli government of turning a "blind eye" to what he called "ethnic cleansing" by the Israeli settlers.

He announced Britain would introduce an "import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories".

"I do not believe the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets," he told the British parliament, flanked by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

"We will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion," he added.

In a statement posted on X, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France "will end trade" with settlements located in the occupied territories.

Commenting on Britain’s move, America’s ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told BBC Radio Tuesday: "I feel like it’s discrimination against the Israeli government. It’s a discrimination against the Jewish people."

Milibrand is the son of Jewish immigrant parents.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads a far-right party that advocates the annexation of the entire West Bank, called for the expulsion of Britain’s ambassador to Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue establishing the illegal settlements despite mounting international pressure, promising a major wave of settler immigration into the West Bank.

Some of the violence by settlers in recent weeks had drawn rare condemnation from Netanyahu and unusually strong criticism from Huckabee, as well as more typical critics in European capitals.

The UK government’s move signals a toughening of its stance towards Israel under Burnham, who entered Downing Street in July after Keir Starmer stepped down.

Burnham has said that Starmer was too soft on Israel, which faced intense international criticism over its relentless offensive that flattened much of Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Starmer’s government did, however, announce sanctions on six entities and one person "involved in financing, enabling and carrying out settler violence" back in June and last year formally recognised a Palestinian state.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the West Bank, among some three million Palestinians.

According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 1,105 Palestinians in the territory since the start of the Gaza war.

Trade between the UK and the Occupied Palestinian Territories was around only 8 million ($51 million) in 2025, according to the government, implying the move could be largely symbolic.

Critics have also said it could be difficult to distinguish goods from the West Bank from those from the rest of Israel.

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