UK Suspends Free Trade Talks with Israel and Announces Sanctions over West Bank Settlers
The British government on Tuesday suspended free trade talks with Israel and hit West Bank settlers with sanctions, hours after vowing “concrete actions” if Israel didn’t stop its new military offensive in Gaza.
Pressure from close allies is mounting on Israel following a nearly three-month blockade of supplies into Gaza that led to famine warnings. Even the United States, a staunch ally, has voiced concerns over the hunger crisis.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the government couldn’t continue discussions on an existing trade agreement with an Israeli government pursuing what he called egregious policies in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“History will judge them,” Lammy said. “Blocking aid. Expanding the war. Dismissing the concerns of your friends and partners. This is indefensible. And it must stop.”
Lammy said the UK was imposing sanctions on a further “three individuals, two illegal settler outposts and two organizations supporting violence against the Palestinian community.”
He said the illegal Israeli settlements were spreading across the West Bank “with the explicit support of this Israeli government.”
