UK to Restrict West Bank Settlement Trade After Israel Opens 1,200 E1 Home Tenders
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 8
UK to Restrict West Bank Settlement Trade After Israel Opens 1,200 E1 Home Tenders
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 8
Summary
Ed Miliband is expected on Tuesday to unveil UK restrictions on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, with Labour MPs briefed that both goods and services could be targeted.
The move follows Israel's opening of tenders for about 1,200 settlement homes in the E1 area, which London says could cut through the West Bank and make a Palestinian state unviable.
Ministers are framing the step as a broader reset of Britain's Israel policy, even though any ban would hit a relatively small volume of mostly agricultural products and be largely symbolic.
Andy Burnham told Labour MPs he had briefed international leaders, including Donald Trump, ahead of the announcement, while Israel has warned it would retaliate and the US is expected to oppose the plan.
The measures come nearly a year after Britain recognized a Palestinian state, as settlement growth and rising settler attacks on 3.3 million Palestinians further strain prospects for a two-state solution.