Government announces trade ban on illegal Israeli settlements
Ed Miliband said "I do not believe that the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements"
The foreign secretary Ed Miliband has announced that the government will introduce sanctions on Israeli settlements.
He said the government will impose an import ban on goods from the settlements, stating: “I do not believe that the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets”.
Miliband said of the Israel-Gaza situation that Andy Burnham “is right to say that the Labour government has not done enough in the face of what is happening”.
The foreign secretary said that “settler terrorism is rampant”, stating that the UN reports an average of six violent settler attacks against Palestinians every day this year.
He also referred to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank as “ethnic cleansing”.
On arms sales, Miliband said that the government has suspended more than 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel.
He also stated that the Labour government stopped providing direct F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel in October 2024, while maintaining indirect supply through the global program chain.
He said those suspensions remain in place, and that the government “will now also refuse all licence applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation”.
Miliband has said that he will put forward legislation on sanctioning the settlements, and that the ban will take six to nine months to come into force.
Reacting to the government’s ban on trade with illegal settlements, TUC General Secretary, Paul Nowak, said: “This is an important step forward for Palestinians who have faced the ongoing and escalating threat of illegal settler violence – and towards securing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East based on a two state solution and an end to the illegal occupation.
“For too long, the world has turned a blind eye to flagrant illegal settlement expansion and settler attacks. This move positions Britain as a leader on the global stage – and puts respect for human rights and international law at the heart of our trade policy.”
Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, said: “Britain has always said settlements are illegal. It made no sense that we allowed trade and investment which helped these entities, built on the violent forced displacement of Palestinians.
“Today’s announcement is the result of many years of work by campaigners and Palestinians themselves fighting to end severe injustice. We know this move will be very popular in Britain. But it must be just the beginning.
“How can we cooperate with a military guilty of the most serious abuses of international law? How can we trade with a country that stands accused of genocide at the world’s highest court? Today the Foreign Secretary admitted Keir Starmer’s government had got it wrong on Israel. This must be the start, not the end, of putting it right.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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