UK bans all imports from Israeli settlements in West Bank, cites 'settler terrorists;' France, Canada to follow

The UK on Tuesday banned trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where it says "settler terrorists" are carrying out ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and said France and Canada would follow with bans of their own, according to AP.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told lawmakers in the House of Commons that Britain will ban imports of all goods from the settlements, along with a range of services including financing, construction, infrastructure, real estate and advertising linked to them.

The government said the coordinated move with Paris and Ottawa marked the sharpest hardening yet of Western pressure over Israel's occupation.


Miliband said the government was acting to preserve the chance of a two-state solution.

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The announcement follows weeks of signals that Britain was preparing to reset its policy on Israel. Miliband, six weeks into the job, flagged last week that he was reviewing the approach, and warned that Israel's E1 settlement project in the West Bank would cut across land Palestinians seek for a future state, putting the two-state solution at risk.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham, in office since July, spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday to stress "the importance of the two-state solution", in what was widely read as a reference to the coming restrictions.

Pensions minister Pat McFadden, speaking to Times Radio ahead of the statement, declined to spell out how the ban would operate. "The foreign secretary will make a statement to Parliament later today," he said, adding that "the reason that danger has become more urgent is because of expanded settlement activity in recent weeks and months."

U.N. bodies and most governments, including Britain, consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law and regard the territory as under Israeli military occupation.

Israel argues the territory is disputed rather than occupied, and asserts that Jews have a historical right to the land.