UK Announces New Israel Sanctions, Accuses Settlers of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’

Britain, France and Canada announced plans to ban imports of goods from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, as part of a broader push by 12 countries to impose or consider trade restrictions targeting settlements.

Britain is going further, announcing sanctions against companies and individuals providing construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate services for settlements, a ban on advertising settlement properties in the UK, and restrictions on arms and other exports deemed to contribute to Israel’s presence in the territory.

Announcing the measures in Parliament, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused Israeli “settler terrorists” of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” and said Britain would no longer be a bystander to what it considers the destruction of the two-state solution.

Turning to Gaza, Miliband said there was “increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed,” including by the IDF, while adding that legal processes should ultimately determine whether war crimes occurred.