UK announces sanctions on West Bank settlements prompting furious Israeli response

ByPaul Adams, Diplomatic correspondent and Henry Moore. 8 September 2026, 18: 09 BST.

Key points

• The UK additionally issued a joint statement with 11 other countries; France, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden.
• Elsewhere, he remarked war crimes "appear to have been committed" in Gaza in the years since the 7 October attack on Israel in 2023.
• Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded by accusing him of spreading an "outrageous lie" as he confirmed counter-measures including shutting the UK's consulate in East Jerusalem.
• Afterwards on Tuesday Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated the targeted measures were "aimed not at the Israeli people, but in support of the two-state solution".
• Responding in the Commons, Conservative shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat asserted ministers were "enacting policies that the Foreign Office knows won't work".

Meanwhile, the UK has confirmed sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, accusing Israel's administration of turning a blind eye to the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians by settlers.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband remarked the move marked the "beginning of a new approach" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It "not only calls out injustice and suffering but acts".

Meanwhile, the UK sanctions will ban settlement goods but additionally act against businesses and individuals providing services for settlement expansion.

In West Bank, date farmers weigh impact of UK sanctions on Israeli settlers. How Israel is expanding settlements in drive to reshape West Bank.

In practice, the sanctions were introduced alongside France and Canada. This person in a joint statement with the UK stated the action "marks a further turning point in our approach to protecting the two-state solution".

Settlements are illegal under international law, and there has been a rise in violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank by settlers in recent months.

In an official note to MPs, Miliband remarked: The British administration agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists.

"And all too often the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians."

He remarked ethnic cleansing was defined by the UN as a "purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent means another ethnic or religious from certain areas".

Miliband remarked the official view of the administration was that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank was unlawful since of the "entrenchment of its control, its intention to extend permanent sovereignty, and its expansionist agenda via illegal settlements".

This position, Miliband remarked, should be reflected in the UK's "economic relationship" with the occupied West Bank.

Consequently, over the next six to nine months, the UK will introduce "a new comprehensive sanctions regime", he remarked.

In practice, the foreign secretary additionally unveiled a ban on advertising illegal West Bank settlements in the UK.

"The sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel, " Miliband continued.

Announcing the closure of the UK consulate. It represents the UK administration in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza, Saar stated at a press conference: We know that we have plenty of friends in Britain.

"Unfortunately, we have a hostile Labour government that is consistently operating against the State of Israel, and it has left us no choice but to respond to its hostile actions."

He continued that 11 UK MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and all five sitting Green Party MPs, would be banned from entering Israel, accusing them of "antisemitic and anti-Israel activity".

In practice, the UK additionally issued a joint statement with 11 other countries; France, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden.

It remarked the group was unequivocally committed to the two-state solution and would introduce national measures or backing European restrictions on trading goods with West Bank settlements.

Notably, the UK announcement comes after Israel opened up tenders for the construction of some 1, 200 settlement homes in the so-called E1 area – a strategically significant area east of Jerusalem. The intends have drawn widespread international condemnation. Israel has held off on intends to build in the area for decades under global pressure.

Miliband informed the Commons the UK's "new approach" was necessary as intends for the E1 development in the West Bank would render a two-state solution "unviable" by "cutting through the heart of Palestine".

He remarked: International humanitarian law imposes clear rules for states fighting wars, including to ensure access to food and medical supplies, to avoid mass displacement of civilians, and to avoid the targeting of civilians. Serious and international violations of this law, if proven, amount to war crimes.

What has occurred, including the actions of the IDF, have been examined in depth by a number of organisations, including the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry.

"The conclusions of these reports represent increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed, and we support legal processes to determine this."

He continued it was up to international courts to determine if Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza.

Israel's leaders have consistently rejected allegations of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. They have insisted that Israeli forces have operated in accordance with international law.

As well as recent antisemitic attacks in the UK, miliband began his statement to the Commons by referring to his Jewish roots and childhood experiences of visiting Israel.

He described himself as "a proud British Jew" and outlined his steadfast backing for the state of Israel.

He remarked: "My personal story and that of thousands of British Jews is one of the many reasons why I say to anyone here or around the world who questions Israel's right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people – you are wrong, and we will call you out whenever you engage in this attempt at the erasure of Israel."

But the UK's Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis remarked it was a "truly a dark day for British Jews", saying the sanctions were "little more than political flag bearing for mendacious anti-Israel rhetoric" that would embolden residents who "use hatred as a weapon against Jews".

He agreed that illegal settlements were wrong and "some Israeli ministers have indulged in hateful propaganda and incitement" but continued "this isn't concerning Israel alone and it certainly isn't regarding reducing the complexity of the region to a single sentence. Sadly, the administration is in the process of doing just that".

Israel's foreign minister Saar additionally stated British representatives from the International Gaza Backing Center in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel would be removed, and UK activities to train Palestinian Authority forces in Judea and Samaria – how the Israeli administration refers to the West Bank – would be terminated.

Speaking earlier on Tuesday, the country's President Isaac Herzog remarked the decision would "fall on the wrong side of history", adding: "In the current context, it would be a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation."

Herzog remarked the move would directly harm Palestinians and called on foreign governments to turn towards "constructive dialogue" and cooperation, adding "sanctions are not a solution".

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio remarked to journalists the White House had no comment on the joint action, adding that "obviously we're not going to do what the UK did".

Taken together, the developments around UK announces sanctions on West Bank settlements prompting furious Israeli response point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.