Britain announces a trade ban on Israeli settlement goods, and Israel threatens to respond

A British government minister confirmed that the country will announce later today, Tuesday (September 8, 2026), a trade ban on goods coming from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as part of Britain’s efforts to support the two-state solution. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said last week, six weeks after assuming office, that he was considering reformulating Britain's policy towards Israel, and was scheduled to make a statement on Israel and trade restrictions in the House of Commons.

New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who has also been in office since July, spoke to US President Donald Trump on Monday to stress “the importance of the two-state solution,” in what is seen as a reference to sanctions.

Settlement obstructs the two-state solution

Miliband said last week that the E1 settlement project in the West Bank would pass through lands claimed by the Palestinians to establish their state, putting the two-state solution at risk. In response to a question about how the trade ban mechanism would be implemented, British Pensions Minister Pat McFadden did not provide any details. "The Foreign Secretary will issue a statement to Parliament later today," McFadden told Times Radio.

He added, "The reason this danger has become more urgent is the expansion of settlement activity in the past few weeks and months." United Nations bodies and most governments, including Britain, consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, and the West Bank is considered territory under Israeli military occupation.

Israel threatens to respond

On the other hand, Israel argues that these lands are disputed and not occupied, and asserts that the Jews have a historical right to this land. Israel has already threatened to respond to any British sanctions related to potential settlement expansion in the West Bank, with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warning: “If Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain.” In a striking escalation, Itamar Ben Gvir, the hardline Israeli Minister of Internal Public Security, called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to officially recognize the Falkland Islands as “occupied Argentine territory, stolen by the British from the Argentine people.”

For his part, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the immediate expulsion of the British ambassador, and wrote on the “X” platform on Monday evening: “Expel the British ambassador tonight,” and added, “We will not be a doormat for an anti-Semitic government to step on, in a country invaded by radical Islam, trying to save itself from economic and social decline by attacking the Jews and the State of Israel. The British mandate in the Land of Israel is over.”

The increase in settlement activity in the West Bank

Peace Now and the Palestinian government in the West Bank say that the total number of settlement outposts currently stands at about 410. The organization, which follows settlement activity through a field verification team, also indicates that settlers established 86 settlement outposts last year alone. Reuters verified the existence of 30 of these hotspots during field visits and through satellite images.

Peace Now and the Israeli human rights organization (Kerem Navot) say in a joint report that these outposts, together, extend over approximately one-fifth of the area of ​​the West Bank, and most of these lands were controlled during the four years that followed the current government headed by Netanyahu taking power. Settlers give a similar estimate of about a thousand square kilometers.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that deadly attacks carried out by settlers against Palestinians are increasing in conjunction with the spread of settlement outposts. The office's data shows that at least 16 Palestinians were killed in attacks carried out by Israeli settlers last year, while more than 1,100 others were injured, a record number. The attacks escalated further this year, with 23 Palestinians killed and more than a thousand others injured as of August. By comparison, data shows that the Palestinians killed one settler and injured 22 settlers this year.