LONDON — British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announed on Tuesday that the UK will ban the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank.Speaking in Parliament, Miliband said “ethnic cleansing” is being carried out by “settler terrorists”and he accused the Israeli government of turning a “blind eye”New restrictions on buying goods made in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank in what has been described as a broad reset of Britain’s relations with Israel is expected to draw fierce criticism from Washington and Tel Aviv.Milibandalso said France and Canada will join the UK in imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.”So we are taking further steps both ourselves and with others, our extension of the global human rights sanctions regime will enable us to target those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law, whether in Gaza or anywhere else in the world,” Miliband told the lawmakers.”And we will let the UN General Assembly in New York later this month shine the clearest and harshest spotlight on what is happening and what must change.”Miliband said the government would do all it could to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.”I pledge we will continue to do everything we can to provide all the humanitarian support possible to help the people of Gaza,” he said, adding that UK-supported hospitals in Gaza will enable around 800,000 medical consultations this year, and essential health services for patients.UK expertise will deliver care to over 1,000 child amputees, and we recently welcomed another wave of students from Gaza coming to study in Britain, Miliband said.He promised the UK government will take a more active approach in supporting the Palestinian cause.Miliband has also told civil society groups he is determined to reassert support for a two-state solution to the conflict with an appeal for the protection of Palestinian rights and respect for international law.Last week, Miliband said he would unveil a “comprehensive reset” of the British government’s policy on Israel.The Israeli government has previously warned it would retaliate if any new measures were introduced.Settlements are illegal under international law, and recent months have seen a rise in violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank by settlers.One minister told the BBC: “The statement will be a complete reset of the nature of our Israel-Palestine relationship. It will all feel very different.”It is not just about sanctions. We hope that this will finally achieve what those of us who have been working towards for two years over the Middle East have been working on.”But Labour MPs briefed on the plans believe the sanctions will target trade with illegal settlements. They believe that means the sanctions would cover both goods and services.Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed to Labour MPs at their weekly parliamentary meeting on Monday night that Miliband would be making the statement.The prime minister is also said to have told the meeting that he had briefed international leaders about plans in phone calls on Monday afternoon.Burnham spoke to US President Donald Trump over the phone on Monday, during which the prime minister stressed the importance of a two-state solution in the Middle East.While ministers are said to recognise that banning a relatively small quantity of mostly agricultural products is a largely symbolic gesture, the government is expected to frame this announcement as a major reset in Britain’s wider policy on Israel.The announcement comes after Israel opened up tenders for the construction of some 1,200 settlement homes in the so-called E1 area— a strategically important area east of Jerusalem. The plans have drawn widespread international condemnation.Israel has held off on plans to build in the area for decades under global pressure.Speaking in his first address to Parliament as foreign secretary last week, Miliband said those plans were “illegal under international law”, and called them “the crossing of a red line, as it cuts through the heart of the West Bank and risks making a Palestinian state unviable”.Burnham also warned that Israel’s announcement about the E1 area could “imperil or end” the two-state solution in the Middle East.Tuesday’s intervention comes almost a year after Keir Starmer’s government recognized a state of Palestine, and said the UK had a moral responsibility to support a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians.The government believes the prospect of a two-state solution is being jeopardized by the rapid expansion of settlements.The proposal for an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, to exist alongside Israel has received international backing over several decades.Israel rejects a two-state solution. The Palestinian Authority backs a two-state solution but Hamas does not because it is opposed to the existence of Israel.Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem— land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a hoped-for future state— during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.There has been a surge in attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, which was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
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