UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is preparing to announce a complete trade ban on goods from Israeli West Bank settlements, British media reported on Wednesday.
The move has sparked opposition from pro-Israel voices in his Labour Party.
According to The Telegraph, the full trade embargo on all settlements could come in response to Jerusalem’s plan for a major, controversial settlement expansion in the hot-button EI area of the West Bank, which would block territorial contiguity between major Palestinian population centers.
At the same time, The Times reported Burnham could also enact sanctions against far-right ministers in the Israeli government and against individual settlers. The UK already sanctions and bans entry to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Britain warned Israel earlier this month that it considered the E1 settlement expansion to be “unacceptable and destructive,” and UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ed Miliband said his office was working to prepare a “comprehensive set of measures” in response, including sanctions against “those who participate in illegal settlement expansion.”
