Twelve countries want sanctions against settlers

 

Georgina Harris/TT

 

Published 14.17Updated 15.33

 

The “E1 area” east of Jerusalem is considered a very sensitive area for building new Israeli settlements. Photo: Nasser Nasser/AP/TT

Great Britain announces extensive sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Another eleven countries, including Sweden, want to see similar sanctions.

– Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is illegal. I announce that we are introducing an import ban on goods manufactured in settlements in the West Bank, says Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband in the British House of Commons.

Last week, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband expressed that Britain will “change course” in its policy towards Israel.

On Tuesday, the decision on sanctions was made public: Britain bans the import of goods and services in Israeli settlements.

The announced sanctions send a “clear signal” to the Israeli government, to “the Palestinians in the occupied territories and to the wider world,” Miliband says, continuing:

– We will not accept the destruction of the two-state solution.

Several countries turn their backs on Britain

The UK’s decision is followed by demands for sanctions from a further eleven countries: Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Finland, France, Poland, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Canada.

Several EU countries want the Union to pursue a united position on the issue of sanctions against trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“The situation is rapidly deteriorating as a result of the increased level of settler violence and an unprecedented expansion of settlements,” the twelve countries warn in a joint statement.

In a written comment to TT, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard says that more needs to be done to reduce trade with Israeli settlements.

“We prioritize acting together with other member states because it has a greater impact. The settlements and settlement policies violate international law and undermine the two-state solution,” says Malmer Stenergard.

Israel is building more settlements

The UK has sharply criticized Israel’s approved plans to build new settlements east of Jerusalem in the so-called “E1 area”. The plans “cross a line”, “cut right through the West Bank and risk making the realization of a Palestinian state impossible”, Ed Miliband has said in the British parliament.

While waiting for the sanctions decision to be announced, Israeli Security Minister Ben-Gvir urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to close the British consulate in east Jerusalem, writes the BBC.

Settler violence and harassment against Palestinian civilians have increased sharply in recent years. In the past 24 hours, four Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces, according to Palestinian authorities.

Israel's 160 settlements in the West Bank are illegal, violate international law and are condemned by a number of countries.