The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) on Wednesday called for the UK to extend sanctions against all trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In a letter written to the UK's Middle East Minister, Labour MP Stephen Doughty, and seen by The New Arab, the ICJP welcomed his condemnation of settlement expansion and their illegality under international law.
The letter called on the UK government to "move beyond statements of concern and non-binding warnings directed at a limited number of organisations and address the settlement enterprise, and the economic relationships that sustain it, as a whole."
"We therefore urge you to use your position as Minister of the Middle East and secure targeted measures, without further delay, prohibiting trade with and economic support for illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory," it continued.
"Such measures should address not merely particular actors or transactions, but the broader commercial and financial relationship that contribute to the maintenance and expansion of the illegal settlement enterprise," the letter added.
"Sanctions are not a radical step–they are the bare minimum required to uphold international law, and the legal position on Israeli settlements is clear," Órlaith Roe, ICJP's Public Affairs and Communication Officer, explained.
"The question for the UK government is no longer whether it condemns settlement expansion, but what concrete measures it is prepared to take in response," she added.
The UK has frequently condemned the existence of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, alongside the accompanying rise of settler violence that is ongoing in the area.
On Monday, UK foreign secretary Ed Miliband held separate calls with both Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Moustafa.
In a statement released regarding his call with Sa'ar, Miliband said that he "raised the sharp escalation of settler violence and settlement expansion," adding that "Israel must crack down on violence in the West Bank."
Despite the words of condemnation and sanctions on individual settlers, Israeli settler violence has continued to grow, alongside Israeli government decisions to expand Israeli settlements, most notably the E1 settlement that threatens to split the occupied West Bank into two.
The expansion of Israeli state and settler violence, which has seen the forced displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, has been described by rights groups as a policy of state-sanctioned "ethnic cleansing".
ICJP noted in its letter to Doughty that the Israeli government approved 13 new settlements on 3 July, and £300 in funding for settlement expansion on 18 July, measures that "form part of an escalating effort to entrench Israel's unlawful settlement enterprise and create further irreversible changes on the ground."
It added that there was an expectation for the government to take further action, following a letter written by 140 Labour MPs to former Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on 7 June which called for a ban on trade with settlements, and the announcement by the Charity Commission of an investigation into funding links between UK-based charities and settlements.
Roe told The New Arab that the ongoing changes on the ground in the occupied West Bank require immediate action from the British government.
"Sanctions have to be an immediate priority. With the E1 settlement tenders due to go live imminently, the window to prevent irreversible changes on the ground is rapidly closing," she said.
"This is also an important early test for Minister Doughty: how he responds now will set the tone for his tenure and show how seriously he intends to approach the UK's responsibility to uphold international law and prevent settlement expansion," she added.
Alongside pressure in the UK, the EU is also actively deliberating issuing of trade sanctions against illegal Israeli settlements, though efforts to push through bloc-wide sanctions have so far failed.
ICJP's own letter ended by saying that the implementation of sanctions on Israeli settlements would "demonstrate that the United Kingdom's stated commitment to international law carries real and measurable consequences."