UK to announce measures against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank within weeks

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Britain will introduce a "comprehensive" package of measures concerning Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in the coming weeks, while Israel warned Britain on Tuesday that it would respond to any sanctions.

Miliband told MPs during his first questioning in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 1 September, that Israel's E1 settlement project will carve out an area of land on which Palestinians seek to establish their state and "threatens to make the establishment of a Palestinian state unviable".

"This government will not accept the undermining of the two-state solution... We will act, and I will announce a comprehensive set of measures in the coming weeks," he said.

Britain and other European countries have criticised Israel's plans, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham said before taking office that he was "considering measures to ban trade in goods with illegal settlements".

The Times reported on Monday that US President Donald Trump's administration is following "closely" any plans to impose a trade ban.

Miliband declined to commit to a comprehensive ban on trade with Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Miliband acknowledged that new illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank "seek to destroy the prospect of implementing the two-state solution", and said in response to a question from an MP, "We simply cannot stand by and let that happen."

However, the minister did not give a clear commitment to a comprehensive ban on trade with settlements, a demand that pro-Palestinian campaigners in Britain insist is the only way to halt the growth of settlements that Britain says are illegal and obstruct any settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Miliband noted that Prime Minister Andy Burnham had "spoken, shortly before taking office, about doing more to take measures to ban trade in goods with illegal settlements".

"It is clear that we are working at the government level and with our allies on these measures" but called for "some patience" in the coming weeks, he added, further saying that "we will have more to say" about trade with settlements in the Palestinian territories.

In response to another question, the minister said, "We are already looking at our broader economic relationship with the occupied territories and the various tools we have to address it."

In terms of British companies that deal with and invest in Israeli settlements, Miliband said, "I want to be very clear, we do not want British companies to finance, build or promote new settlements through advertising."

Israeli institutions have often held exhibitions in Britain to encourage Britons to buy housing units in settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Miliband announced that the British government is now considering "how we can prevent that".

The minister announced on 19 August that Britain would "set out within weeks" what he described as a "comprehensive set of measures" in response to the Israeli government's policies and "to impose sanctions on those involved in illegal settlement expansion".

Israel warned Britain on Tuesday that it would respond to any sanctions after London pledged to review its policy towards Israel in response to violence committed by settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said in a podcast, "If Britain takes action against the State of Israel, the State of Israel will take action against Britain."

Britons urge Burnham government to sanction Israel 

For years pro-Palestine activists insisted that Britain must ban all forms of trade in goods and services with illegal settlements, as well as all other forms of trade that help Israel carry out violations with impunity.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign launched a public petition calling for "comprehensive sanctions" against Israel to stop its crimes against Palestinians and urging the government to reverse its policy of suppressing protests against those crimes.

The campaign's demands come especially after the government decided to ban the direct action group Palestine Action, the legality of which is currently being considered by the High Court of England and Wales.

The government also introduced new legislation months ago granting police the power to ban repeated protests.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign describes this legislation as a "direct attempt to suppress" activities organising protests and urges Burnham to overturn this "repressive expansion" of state powers and the laws on which opposition to protests is based.

The campaign also calls on Britons and pro-Palestine activists to help inform the prime minister that this "is a priority for tens of thousands of people across the country".

The petition also calls for "an end to the authoritarian use of public order and counter-terrorism legislation to suppress protests supporting Palestinian rights".

Signed by more than 55,000 people so far, it also calls for "immediate action to end the British government's complicity in the genocide" being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Those who signed the petition called for these measures to be effective enough to push Israel to "end its illegal occupation" and "stop its other violations of international law".

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign insists that Britain must recognise the findings of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which confirms that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The petition calls on Burnham's government to abandon the policy of its predecessor, led by Keir Starmer, and take "all reasonable steps to prevent or mitigate the risk of genocide in Gaza", as well as "comprehensive sanctions" on Israel, including a "full arms embargo".

Israeli settlements are considered illegal by international law and most states worldwide.

This is an edited version combining two articles translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the originals, click here and here.