In brief
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, citing concerns over the planned construction of the E1 settlement cluster and accusing Israel of engaging in ethnic cleansing. He ordered a ban on imports from Israel's illegal settlements, and criticised Israel's government for ignoring the issue. Israel's foreign minister dismissed the move, threatened to close the British consulate and called the UK government hostile. The proposal includes 1,200 new homes in the contentious West Bank area, sparking diplomatic tensions.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has called for sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, citing concerns over the planned construction of the E1 settlement cluster and accusing Israel of engaging in ethnic cleansing.
Miliband told Parliament that the UK would ban imports from Israel's “illegal settlements” in the West Bank, arguing that the expansion of settlement homes would serve to solidify occupation and undermine peace prospects.
The Israeli government has opened tenders for about 1,200 new settlement houses at the E1 site, a move that Martin's counterpart Gideon Saar described as a threat to British diplomatic presence, saying Israel would close the British consulate in Jerusalem.
Both sides have framed the dispute over E1 as part of a larger struggle over the territorial integrity of the West Bank and the rights of its Palestinian residents.
