According to Bloomberg's report on August 21, the UK is drafting a new set of sanctions against Israel, planning to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank. British Prime Minister Bernall hopes to use this as an opportunity to show a stronger stance, as this issue is very important to the voters of his left-wing Labour Party.
Several sources familiar with the situation have revealed that British Foreign Secretary Miliband is evaluating various options. He plans to pressure Israel in the coming weeks regarding its determination to build residential areas in a strategic location on the West Bank. The plan includes a new set of sanctions measures aimed at cutting off trade between the UK and Israeli settlements.
Sources familiar with the matter say that Milliband is also considering expanding the scope of existing human rights sanctions, including actions that hinder humanitarian aid. Experts believe such actions have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Additionally, Miliband may also publicly state his support for a non-binding advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in 2024, which would declare Israel's occupation to be illegal.
Recently, Israel decided to launch a tender for the construction of 1200 settlement homes in the so-called “E1 area” on the West Bank. In recent months, as the situation became more severe during the general election on October 27th, when Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was in power, the conflicts between Israeli settlers and Palestinians have intensified.
On August 20 local time, Burnham, along with leaders from Canada and five European countries including France, Germany, and Italy, issued a statement condemning Israel’s housing plans as “unacceptable” and urging Netanyahu to withdraw the bidding. On August 19 local time, Miliband promised to impose targeted sanctions on Israelis involved in the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, in order to prevent the “two-state solution” from being destroyed.
Regarding this, Israel’s Foreign Minister Sal said that Miliband’s attitude was 'arrogant', and noted that Jews have the 'right to choose' their place of residence. Sal stated that this highlights the already tense relations between Britain and Israel, and expressed regret that the British government's actions harm these bilateral relations.
British officials admitted that the UK has long considered Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal. The new measures may have limited effectiveness, and traders can change product labels to circumvent sanctions. Nevertheless, Burnham is eager to demonstrate to the Labour party that he holds a more critical stance towards Israel than his predecessor Stommer.
Bernam returned to Parliament last month, which directly led to Stommer’s resignation. He apologized for the Labour Party’s stance during the Gaza conflict during Stommer’s tenure, acknowledging that the Labour Party “made mistakes in the past.”
The Cross-Party Foreign Affairs Committee of the British House of Commons has been calling for a ban on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The chairman of the committee, Labour Party member Thornebury, stated on the 21st that Britain had previously taken similar measures against Russian companies operating in the Russian-occupied territories of Crimea.
"Israel's current government is a far-right government, and it is making every effort to construct settlement points on this land in an attempt to completely extinguish the hope for the establishment of a Palestinian state." Soebenry said that day. She claimed, while she believes Bennai and the cabinet ministers understand her stance, "They must take concrete action."
