UK: Israel's occupation of Palestine 'unlawful' as sanctions declared

The United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced on Tuesday a ban on trade with unlawful Israeli settlements, amid a declaration that "occupation within the Occupied Palestinian Territories is unlawful."

Speaking to the House of Commons, Miliband said the sanctions go beyond a goods ban, extending to companies that provide services toward settlement expansion, and companies advertising settlement expansion in the West Bank.

Miliband went on to say that the UK will review all arms licenses that materially contribute to the occupation, enacting an effective "double lock", and that the ban will be in place as long as Israel's occupation exists. 

Insisting that the government's argument is "not with the people of Israel", but the conduct of their government, Miliband said that the measures "mark the beginning of a new approach," intended to stop the two-state solution being "buried", quoting Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The measures are expected to impact roughly $8 billion of annual bilateral trade, coming into effect within nine months.

Catalyst for change

The ban has been welcomed by pro-Palestinian lobby groups from the UK, who insist that the UK's trade relationship with Israel must shift, as violence and dispossession against Palestinians in the West Bank reaches record levels. 

One such group is the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU). Director Christ Doyle spoke to CGTN to say "this is at least the start of some serious action by the United Kingdom, to try to address what is happening on the ground."

On how impactful the move by Miliband really is, Doyle said: "What will make it genuinely impactful [is] if other states, particularly European ones, join in such a ban. If such states do this, then it starts to build real momentum to put pressure to stop Israel carrying out these reckless illegal violations of international law."

Canada and France have since announced similar bans on goods from Israeli settlements, with France also pushing for an EU-wide ban. The EU is Israel's largest trading partner, with bilateral flows amounting to €43.3 billion in 2025.

A statement from the foreign ministers of Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK has also been released, condemning the Israeli government's actions on undermining the possibility of a two-State solution, and pushing for accountability for settler violence, and the investigation of allegations against Israeli forces.

A reset on British-Israeli relations

The UK has historically maintained strong ties with Israel, and throughout the war on Gaza, it has continued to supply parts to warplanes through a global pool programme that Israel is able to access. 

However, the relationship appears to have hit a turning point since the Labour government took power two years ago. 

Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government suspended 30 arms-export licences to the country amid increasing criticism of the conduct of the Israeli military and settlers, and sanctioned several high-profile politicians and settlers. 

Over a year has passed since the leaders of the two countries had a conversation with one another; and just last month, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on a podcast and called the UK "the Islamic Republic of Britain" in an objection to British media coverage of Israel.

Now, Miliband's promise to MPs that he would “reset” Britain’s policy on Israel signifies a permanent shift in the relationship.

In his first statement to the Commons as Foreign Secretary earlier this month, Miliband told ministers that he would prevent UK involvement in projects such as the illegal E1 plan, a controversial project to develop a 12km² area of the occupied West Bank between East Jerusalem and the Ma'ale Adumim settlement.

Miliband also previously condemned the opening up tenders for the construction of an initial 1,200 settlement homes as "an unacceptable and destructive act" that was antithetical to a two-state solution.

Fury from inside Israel

Tuesday's announcement by Miliband is the latest chapter in a series of political fraying between the two countries, and has sparked fury from inside the Knesset. 

Israel's president Isaac Herzog has said that the trade ban puts the UK "on the wrong side of history", and constitutes a "gross interference" in the Israeli elections next month.

Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who was sanctioned by the UK government last year for 'inciting violence' against Palestinians, responded to the sanctions by calling on Netanyahu to expel UK ambassador Simon Walters from Israel. 

On X, he posted: “We will not be a doormat trampled by an antisemitic government, in a country conquered by radical Islam."

Similarly sanctioned far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote in Spanish on X: "It's time for the State of Israel to publicly recognize that the Malvinas Islands are Argentine territory under occupation, which the British violently steal from the Argentine people." 

He also called on Netanyahu to impose sanctions on Great Britain.

The Malvinas Islands, known as the Falkland Islands in Britain, are subject of a long-standing sovereignty dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina, and so Ben-Gvir's statement could stoke tensions surrounding the matter.

Wider reactions

The announcement by the UK's  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has also prompted significant reactions from across the globe. 

US ambassador to Israel and vocal Christian Zionist Mike Huckabee claimed on X that Downing Street was motivated by “Jew hatred,” prior to the sanctions coming into effect. 

His comments come despite Miliband being of Jewish descent, with a grandfather that died in Nazi concentration camps, and a grandmother that relocated to Israel following WWII.  

On the other end of the spectrum, UN Special Rapporteur to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) Francesca Albanese spoke with UK media to say that a “ban on settlement goods was a change in UK government stance and absolutely important”, but that the measures should be extended to trade in services, all arms licensing and the unexamined flights out of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.  

The office of US president Donald Trump is yet to issue a statement on the trade ban; given the wide-ranging support provided by the US to Israel, a condemnation of the move is expected.