Israel has responded by closing the British consulate in Jersualem – one of four ‘counter-measures’ so far announced against the UK. Foreign secretary Ed Miliband has issued the government’s strongest ever condemnation of Israeli settlements. In a speech given today, Miliband accused Israeli ‘terrorists’ of conducting ethnic cleansing in the West Bank while the Israeli government ‘turned a blind eye’. He also acknowledged for the first time that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is unlawful in its entirety, and suggested the Israeli government is complicit in breaking international law by allowing the situation to continue.

However, Miliband stopped short of describing Israel’s actions as genocide. Miliband’s ‘comprehensive reset’ of foreign policy is now facing huge backlash from Israel and the US. The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar, has accused Miliband of ‘outrageous lies’ and said that the UK government was ‘systematically working against the state of Israel’. The Israeli government has also announced four ‘counter-measures’ against the UK, including plans to close the British consulate in Jerusalem and bar 11 British pro-Palestine MPs from entering the country. Among those banned are Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and Zahra Sultana.

Miliband told MPs today though that this ‘new approach’ was necessary because new plans for settler developments in the West Bank would make a two-state solution impossible by ‘cutting through the heart of Palestine’. Israeli settler expansions and violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank has also intensified in recent weeks which may have also prompted this response.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has also issued a statement outlining the UK’s tougher position on Israel, and said ‘The suffering of the Palestinian people is a scar on the conscience of the world. Innocent Palestinians, including children, continue to be killed in Gaza. And there is still a humanitarian crisis, with far too little aid getting in’.

Miliband, who described himself as a ‘proud British Jew’, made it clear that he strongly supports the State of Israel and its citizens, emphasising that “our argument is with the conduct of its government”. The Prime Minister has also reiterated that the UK continues to support Israel and its people, while backing efforts towards a two-state solution in the region. He also condemned the actions of Hamas on October 7.

The UK joins 12 countries that have also announced they would impose sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank,including Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

The measures announced by the UK today include:

* An import ban on goods from illegal settlements.
* Sanctions against providing services such as construction or financing for Israeli settlements.
* A ban on advertising illegal settlement properties in the UK
* Personal sanctions against individuals promoting settler violence.
* A new ban for arms licences and other exports that contribute to the occupation.

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