UK to expand settlement sanctions to occupied Golan Heights, East Jerusalem

The UK government intends to include the illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied Golan Heights of Syria and East Jerusalem in the sanctions regime it is imposing on the settlements in the occupied West Bank, The New Arab has learned.

On Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced that the UK is preparing to ban the entry of goods from illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank into British markets. He confirmed that financial and banking service transactions with these settlements would also be prohibited, alongside additional sanctions on settlers and contributors who support settlement activity in the West Bank, acknowledging that the region is facing ethnic cleansing committed by settlers he described as "terrorists".

However, the foreign secretary did not mention at the time the Israeli settlement movement in the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied by force during the June 1967 war.

Informed sources at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated that these measures "will also include Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem". The New Arab has also learned that the relevant ministries have begun working on establishing the sanctions regime so that it encompasses all illegal Jewish settlements in the Golan and East Jerusalem.

British markets import wine produced in the occupied Syrian territory, a practice that anti-settlement activists in the UK have long demanded be banned.

Since occupying the Golan Heights in the 1967 war, Israel has established 34 settlements, housing 30,000 settlers. According to international law, these settlements are entirely illegal. The Israeli government announced in December 2024 its aim of doubling the number of settlers in the occupied Golan Heights, clearly stating that its long-term goal is to settle 100,000 residents there by 2030.

Anti-settlement activists welcomed the expansion of the British sanctions regime to the occupied Golan, noting that it reflects "consistency" in the government's policy toward settlement activity.

In statements to The New Arab, Chris Doyle, Director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), described the move as a “very good and highly significant step”, noting that successive British governments "have long declared that it (the Golan) is also an occupied territory". The CAABU head also warned of the "massive impact" of illegal settlement activity on the Syrian population in the Golan Heights.

Doyle added that including the Golan settlements in the sanctions confirms "the British government's desire for its positions to be consistent”.

Regarding the inclusion of East Jerusalem settlements, Doyle said it should not be taken for granted because, according to international law and resolutions, East Jerusalem is part of the occupied West Bank. Israel, however, considers East Jerusalem separate from the occupied territories, Doyle highlighted

The UK's intention to extend the sanctions regime is expected to unsettle the administration of US President Donald Trump, who in March 2019 recognised Israel's claim of sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan.