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By JILL LAWLESS
\nUpdated 2:18 PM EDT, September 8, 2026
\nLeer en espa\u00f1ol<\/p>\n
LONDON (AP) \u2014 The United Kingdom on Tuesday banned trade with Israeli settlements in the\u00a0occupied West Bank,<\/a><\/span>\u00a0where it says \u201csettler terrorists\u201d are carrying out \u201cethnic cleansing\u201d of Palestinians, in a significant toughening of Britain\u2019s stance toward a longtime ally.<\/p>\n France and Canada announced they would take similar action in an attempt to prevent\u00a0expanding settlements and growing violence<\/a><\/span>\u00a0from making it impossible to establish a future Palestinian state.<\/p>\n Israel responded angrily and said it would close the British consulate in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the U.K. will ban imports of all goods from the settlements and bar companies from providing services for the settlements, including financing, construction, infrastructure, real estate and advertising.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not believe the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets,\u201d Miliband said.<\/p>\n In a joint statement, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank \u201cpose a direct and urgent threat\u201d to the two-state solution. They said they decided to act \u201cbefore it is too late.\u201d<\/p>\n The economic impact is likely to be limited, since the settlements produce only a small amount of largely agricultural exports. But the move is a symbolic expression of displeasure with Israel by some of its closest allies, and it offers a new sign of the Israeli government\u2019s growing isolation as a result of the Gaza war.<\/p>\n Miliband said that he feels \u201ca deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the eyes of the international community.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will not acquiesce in the destruction of the two-state solution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar condemned the \u201cdespicable\u201d move. He said Israel would expel U.K. representatives from a joint military center monitoring the Gaza ceasefire and end U.K. training of the Palestinian Authority\u2019s security forces in the West Bank. In addition, Israel barred entry to a dozen British lawmakers and other U.K. citizens whom Sa\u2019ar said were \u201cinvolved in antisemitic and anti-Israel activity.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the ultranationalist government of Israeli Prime Minister\u00a0Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0settlement construction<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in the West Bank \u2014 seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war \u2014 has surged. Netanyahu\u2019s government views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n The international community overwhelmingly considers such construction to be illegal. Britain and other countries have voiced particular concern about the\u00a0E1 settlement project<\/a><\/span>\u00a0approved by Israel, which would effectively cut the territory in two.<\/p>\nSettlements have expanded under Netanyahu<\/h2>\n
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