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The UK bans settlement goods, calls the occupation unlawful, and Israel orders the British consulate in Jerusalem closed
By Staff Writer | 9 September 2026
The Foreign Secretary told the Commons that imports from Israeli settlements will be banned, that companies providing construction, finance or property services to them will face designation, and that the British government now regards the occupation itself as unlawful. France and Canada act with Britain and nine more countries say they will follow or consider it. Israel answered within hours.
The United Kingdom set out on Tuesday the most far-reaching measures it has taken against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the House of Commons that the government will ban the import of goods from settlements, create new powers to designate individuals and companies that support, assist or profit from settlement activity, and ban the advertising or promotion of land and property in settlements. The government's own account of the package adds the designation of several settlers it says have supported or incited violence against Palestinian communities.
We will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion
Ed Miliband, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom
Mr Miliband said the trade ban would be in place within six to nine months. He also moved the government's legal position. Britain has long said the settlements are illegal and stayed silent on the occupation as a whole; he told the House that the official view of the British government is now that the occupation is unlawful, in line with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 2024. The suspension of more than 30 arms licences for use in Gaza is extended to every licence application that materially contributes to the occupation, which he called a double lock, for as long as the occupation lasts.
Twelve countries, three of them banning trade now
A joint statement by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Mark Carney said the three countries will ban the importation of goods from settlements and enforce targeted measures against settlements and those who assist or profit from them, a year after they recognised the State of Palestine. They will co-chair a meeting at the United Nations General Assembly later this month. A separate statement by foreign ministers said Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom confirm their intention to introduce national measures, support EU ones, or actively consider them, and welcomed action already taken by Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium. The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, ruled out Washington joining.
The government's case rests on figures it attributes to the United Nations: 16 Palestinians killed by settlers in the past year and more than 1,400 recorded incidents of settler violence, an average of more than six a day. It says the Israeli government has approved 104 new settlements in that time and permitted tenders for the E1 project east of Jerusalem, which as planned would cut through the centre of the West Bank. Annual bilateral trade between the two countries is about 6 billion pounds, and the settlements' own exports are largely agricultural, so the direct commercial effect is expected to be small; how customs will separate settlement goods from Israeli goods is not yet set out.
Israel's response
Israel's Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, announced the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem, which sits in the eastern part of the city, the expulsion of British diplomats from the centre monitoring the Gaza ceasefire, an end to British training of Palestinian Authority security forces, and an entry ban on 12 British officials. He called the accusations made in the Commons outrageous lies and described the British move as interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and in its election, which is due on 27 October. The Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, called for the British ambassador to be expelled.
United Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and is under its full sovereignty
Gideon Saar, Foreign Minister of Israel
Earlier in the day President Isaac Herzog had said the expected sanctions would be a grave miscalculation that would fall on the wrong side of history, and that they would harm Palestinians by taking away business and employment. The Palestinian presidency welcomed the British decision and called on other European countries to follow it.
For the construction and property trades the operative words are in the designation power. Once the legislation is in force, a British company providing construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate services to a settlement project becomes a candidate for sanctions. The trade ban is the headline; the services power is the part that reaches contractors.