Report: British government plans ban on trade with Israeli settlements

Britain is preparing to ban trade in goods from Israeli settlements, The Guardian reported, in a move expected to bring sharp criticism from Israel and the United States.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is expected to announce the measure to British lawmakers on Tuesday. He is also expected to reaffirm Britain’s support for a two-state solution and call for Palestinian rights to be protected. The Guardian said Miliband would use stronger language than his predecessors when condemning the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Israel has already threatened retaliation after Miliband previously alleged that the Israeli military had withheld aid in Gaza. Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, has accused the British government of being driven by antisemitism.

Several European Union countries support a ban on trade with Israeli settlements, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said after a foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels in July. The settlements have expanded significantly under Israel’s current government, which the article describes as one of the country’s most right-wing governments in nearly 80 years.

The United Nations considers the settlements illegal. They are reserved for Israeli citizens living in the West Bank, where some areas fall under Palestinian self-rule and others, including the settlements, remain under Israeli administration and control. A June report by a UN investigative commission said attacks by settlers on Palestinian villages and privately owned farmland had risen 130 percent since 2023.

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The British government is driven by antisemitism.