Britain announces a ban on the import of Israeli settlement goods

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced in the House of Commons that the United Kingdom will ban the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank.

The Foreign Secretary said the UK would take action against companies and individuals who provide services, such as construction or financing, to expand settlements.

He added: “You will face the full force of British sanctions,” noting that advertising illegal settlements in the United Kingdom will also be banned.

Miliband stresses that these sanctions target illegal settlements, not Israel.

“I strongly oppose Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions sanctions,” he concluded.

The BBC reported this morning that the British government intends to impose new restrictions on the purchase of goods made in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Miliband said last week that he would unveil a "comprehensive reset" of the British government's policy towards Israel.

The Israeli government previously warned that it would respond if any new measures were taken.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the British plans as a "serious error in judgement" and said that they would harm the Palestinians and constitute interference in the Israeli elections scheduled for next month. He called on foreign governments to resort to dialogue and cooperation, adding that "sanctions are not a solution."

For his part, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to close the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, claiming that it was working "openly on behalf of the Palestinian Authority."

He added in a post on the X platform that this “should be Israel’s firm response to British audacity.” Ben Gvir had also called for recognizing the Falkland Islands as occupied Argentine territory and imposing sanctions on Britain.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also called for the expulsion of the British ambassador, accusing the British government of anti-Semitism.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in an interview last week: “If Britain moves against the State of Israel, the State of Israel will move against Britain,” but he declined, when the BBC asked him on Monday, to clarify the nature of the possible response.

After the Netherlands imposed restrictions on trade with the settlements, Israel removed two Dutch diplomats from a US-led center in southern Israel that coordinates the fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

Settlements are illegal under international law, and recent months have witnessed an escalation in violence committed by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.

A British government minister told the BBC: “This statement will constitute a complete reset of the nature of our relationship with the issue of Israel and Palestine. Everything will look very different.”

He added: "It is not just about sanctions. We hope that this will finally achieve what we have been working for for two years, with regard to the Middle East."

The BBC did not know the full details of the procedures.

The Minister for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden, said that the expected measures would not constitute a “boycott of business with Israel,” stressing that Britain’s relationship with Israel remains important economically and security-wise. He added that the move comes in response to "continued settlement expansion," which makes reaching a two-state solution more difficult.

But Labor MPs informed of the plans believe the sanctions will target trade with illegal settlements. They believe that this means that the sanctions will include both goods and services.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed to Labor MPs during their weekly parliamentary meeting on Monday evening that Miliband would make the statement, according to a number of MPs who attended the meeting.

The Prime Minister is also said to have informed the meeting that he had briefed international leaders on the plans, during phone calls on Monday afternoon.

Burnham spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump on Monday, and during the call the Prime Minister stressed the importance of the two-state solution in the Middle East.

The official statement of the call, issued by the Prime Minister's Office in Downing Street, did not clarify whether Burnham had briefed Trump on the sanctions.

But the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, told the BBC's "Newsday" program that he believes that Britain's imposition of trade restrictions on the settlements will "without a doubt" lead to an American response, which may be issued at the federal level or by some states. He warned that the step could have major economic repercussions on British companies, and could lead to them being banned from doing business in a number of American states.

Speaking last July, Stephen Doughty, who was then British Cabinet Minister for Europe and later appointed Minister for the Middle East, told the Parliamentary Business Committee that current powers to impose restrictions on settlements did not do much.

He said: “Currently, we can impose sanctions when there is evidence that the matter is linked to settler violence, but not, for example, in relation to a contractor working in settlement construction. We need to expand our powers to impose sanctions.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticized the measures as a "political show", saying their implementation would be difficult due to challenges associated with distinguishing between products coming from Israel and those made in West Bank settlements.

But he stressed that the Conservative Party supports the two-state solution and that building settlements on Palestinian lands is "clearly wrong."

Labor MP and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Emily Thornberry, responded that discrimination between the sources of goods is not a new issue, citing the sanctions imposed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. She said: “We have dealt with this before, and we can do it.”

While ministers are said to recognize that banning a relatively limited amount of products, mostly agricultural, is a largely symbolic move, the government is expected to present the announcement as a major reset of wider British policy towards Israel.

Agricultural products exported by the settlements include Medjool dates, also known as Medjool dates, mangoes, avocados, grapes, and fresh herbs, in addition to wine, olive oil, and some consumer goods.

Current British rules require clear labeling on settlement goods, and they do not benefit from the preferential customs treatment stipulated in trade agreements between Britain and Israel. The authorities require documents proving where the goods are produced, but critics point to practical difficulties in distinguishing between Israeli products and those coming from the occupied West Bank.

The expected announcement from the British government comes after Israel opened the door for bids to build about 1,200 settlement housing units in the area known as E1, an area of ​​strategic importance located to the east of Jerusalem. These plans have sparked widespread international condemnation.

Israel has postponed the implementation of construction plans in this region for decades, under the weight of international pressure.

Construction in the area would effectively divide the West Bank into two parts. Bidding is scheduled to close days before Israel's general elections scheduled for October, which could make canceling pre-election bids more difficult for any future government.

In his first speech to Parliament as Foreign Secretary last week, Miliband said that these plans were “illegal under international law,” and described them as “crossing a red line, because they cut through the heart of the West Bank and threaten to make the establishment of a Palestinian state practically unviable.”

Prime Minister Andy Burnham also warned that Israel's E1 announcement could "threaten or end" the two-state solution in the Middle East.

This move is expected to come today, Tuesday, about a year after Sir Keir Starmer's government recognized Palestine as a state, and said that Britain has a moral responsibility to support a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians.

The London government believes that the rapid expansion of settlements undermines the chances of reaching a two-state solution.

Settlement expansion has accelerated significantly since Benjamin Netanyahu's return to office in late 2022. The current government has pushed forward plans to establish more than 100 new settlements, including outposts established without planning permits or Israeli government approval, and has also lifted a 20-year ban on settlement in the area surrounding Jenin in the northern West Bank.

Israel has built about 160 settlements, inhabited by about 700,000 Jews, since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the Middle East War in 1967. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

The West Bank has witnessed an escalation in settler attacks on Palestinians and their property, since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which was sparked by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

According to the United Nations, 316 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces or settlers from the beginning of 2025 until the end of July 2026, and more than 5,600 others were injured. The average number of injuries related to settler attacks during the current year reached about three injuries per day.