Britain and France have joined a coalition of twelve countries banning imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, in a coordinated move that has prompted Israel to announce the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem.
The sanctions cover goods and some services from settlements. The countries include the UK, France and Canada, as well as nine others whose identities have not been specified. Details of the products and services covered, and a timetable for the measures, have not been announced.
The action follows a wave of settler violence in recent days and comes amid rising tensions over settlement expansion in the West Bank. The specific incidents behind the coordinated action have not been set out.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused the Israeli government on Tuesday of turning a "blind eye" to what he called "ethnic cleansing" by settlers in the West Bank. He told UK parliament that 'the British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists'.
Israel responded by announcing that it would close the British consulate in Jerusalem. It did not state reasons beyond the sanctions, and no timetable for the closure was given.
France said it was preparing to impose its own ban on products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced the French position on Tuesday, in coordination with the UK and Canada.
Writing on X, Barrot said: 'France is going to put an end to its commerce with Israeli settlements in Palestine, along with 11 other countries which have also undertaken similar engagements'.
He said the West Bank was under severe pressure from settlement growth and violence. Barrot stated: 'the West Bank is close to exploding– there is frenzied expansion of the settlements, a flare up of violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers, and acts of terror which have been attacked by Israeli authorities themselves'.
The coordinated measures follow unsuccessful efforts by some European Union states to secure a bloc-wide decision on the issue. Those efforts failed to obtain a qualified majority, with Germany notably opposing an EU-wide measure.
The announcements mark a sharper dispute between Israel and several of its European partners over the settlements and the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank. The coalition has announced its restrictions, while France is preparing its ban, and neither side has given further detail on when the new measures or Israel's closure of the British consulate would take effect.
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