Citing the existence of “ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” Britain will impose a trade ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, the country’s foreign secretary announced Tuesday.
In a statement to lawmakers in the House of Commons, Ed Miliband said today marks the “beginning of a new approach” on Israel, announcing that the UK will introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements.
“The legislation I have announced today will be in place within six to nine months and we will also take more immediate steps,” he noted.
Today’s measures “represent a clear message” to the government of Israel, to the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, and to the world that “we will not acquiesce in destruction of the two-state solution,” he said.
However, he noted that the sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel itself, adding that for this reason, he “wholeheartedly” opposes the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
