Twelve countries, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, confirmed on Tuesday that they would introduce national measures or support European restrictions on trade in goods with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are illegal under international law, in one of the largest coordinated Western moves against Israeli settlement policy to date, Al Jazeera reported.
The announcement was led by Britain under new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July after Keir Starmer’s resignation. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the Commons that Britain was imposing an immediate import ban on all settlement-origin goods, saying it could no longer simply “call out” injustice and had to act.
He accused violent settlers of “ethnic cleansing” in parts of the West Bank, Time reported, and said Britain would “refuse to be bystanders to further suffering,” Al Jazeera reported.
Canada and France confirmed matching bans, while Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Sweden pledged further support.
In their joint statement, the twelve foreign ministers said the situation in the West Bank was deteriorating rapidly amid record settler violence and Israel’s decision to advance the contested E1 settlement project near Jerusalem.
They said Israel’s actions were “undermining the possibility of a two-state solution.”
The statement also recognised Israel’s security concerns and condemned Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack.
Israel reacted within hours. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Britain’s East Jerusalem consulate would close, British officials would be barred from an aid centre in Kiryat Gat, joint training of Palestinian forces would end, and several British lawmakers would be barred from entering Israel.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also condemned the measures.
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces re-election next month, had earlier threatened retaliation against London, Bloomberg reported.
Burnham defended the decision on social media, noting Israel had approved 104 new settlements since late 2022, and admitted Britain had long been “hesitant to act, fearful of being accused” of bias.
Washington stayed largely on the sidelines: Axios reported that the Trump administration did not push back on the UK-led effort despite Burnham briefing Trump beforehand, even as U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee branded the sanctions “discrimination against the Jewish people” in a BBC interview the White House called uncoordinated.
The bans mainly target settlement-grown produce and wine, a small share of Israel’s exports, and are expected to include a religious exemption, while Britain separately bars companies from financing, construction and real estate work tied to settlement expansion, according to the Jerusalem Post.
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