The 12 countries that decided to cut economic ties with illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories announced their position in a joint written statement. The foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom announced that they will ban trade with the settlements.
The statement said that Israel’s actions in the West Bank were weakening the two-state solution and that the situation was deteriorating. It also addressed violence by Israelis who seize Palestinian land and stressed the need to preserve the two-state solution.
UK targets imports and sanctions
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Parliament that imports of goods sent to the United Kingdom from illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories would be banned.
Miliband argued that Israel had exercised its right to defend itself after October 7, 2023. The minister claimed that Iran continued to threaten Israel and Jews, and said that sanctions had been imposed on Iranian institutions and individuals as well as groups influenced by Iran.
Miliband said Iran must not possess nuclear weapons and announced that they would refer violations related to Iran’s nuclear program to the United Nations Security Council. Announcing new sanctions against Iran and Hezbollah, Miliband said that combating these threats represented shared national security concerns with Israel.
Miliband argued that Jews in the United Kingdom and around the world were living in fear and said that his support for Israel would continue. The minister said this support did not conflict with support for the State of Palestine, adding that the two-state solution was the only path for Palestinians and Israelis. Miliband said that what had happened in Gaza would remain an indelible stain on the conscience of the world and the United Kingdom.
Settlement figures and sanctions plan
Miliband said that approximately 770,000 Israelis lived in illegal settlements established in the occupied Palestinian territories. He said that approximately 4,000 Palestinians had been displaced within a short period because of attacks by the Israeli state and Israelis seeking to seize Palestinian land.
Miliband said the UK’s official position was that the Israeli occupation was illegal because it sought to make control permanent, expand sovereignty and pursue an expansionist policy through illegal settlements. He said this assessment would also be reflected in economic relations.
Miliband said the UK government would ban imports of goods from illegal settlements and announced that it would also take action against certain individuals and companies providing construction, infrastructure, financing and real estate services for settlement expansion. He said those facilitating the establishment or expansion of settlements would face sanctions.
France to end trade with settlements
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that France would end trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Barrot said the decision was taken because the situation in the West Bank had reached the brink of explosion, the seizure of Palestinian land was continuing and violence against Palestinians was increasing.
Barrot said these developments threatened the two-state solution and called on Israeli authorities to end illegal settlements and the violence that followed them. Barrot said Europe should also demonstrate the same determination.
British diplomats, concerned that the sanctions decision could cause a deterioration in US-UK relations, told the US in private discussions that the decision was largely symbolic and would have no concrete impact on commercial or security relations with Israel.
