U.K. suspends free trade talks with Israel and announces sanctions over West Bank settlers
The British government on Tuesday suspended free trade talks with Israel and hit West Bank settlers with sanctions, hours after vowing “concrete actions” if Israel didn’t stop its new military offensive in Gaza.
Pressure from close allies is mounting on Israel following a nearly three-month blockade of supplies into Gaza that led to famine warnings. Even the United States, a staunch ally, has voiced concerns over the hunger crisis.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the government couldn’t continue discussions on an existing trade agreement with an Israeli government pursuing what he called egregious policies in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“History will judge them,” Lammy said. “Blocking aid. Expanding the war. Dismissing the concerns of your friends and partners. This is indefensible. And it must stop.”
Lammy said the U.K. was imposing sanctions on a further “three individuals, two illegal settler outposts and two organizations supporting violence against the Palestinian community.”
He said the illegal Israeli settlements were spreading across the West Bank “with the explicit support of this Israeli government.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein called the sanctions against West Bank settlers “unjustified and regrettable” and said the free trade agreement negotiations were not being advanced by the U.K. anyway.
The announcement followed comments by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who called children’s suffering in Gaza “utterly intolerable” and repeated his call for a ceasefire.
“I want to put on record today that we’re horrified by the escalation from Israel,” Starmer said.
Israeli’s ambassador to the U.K., Tzipi Hotovely, was summoned to the Foreign Office, where Middle East minister Hamish Falconer planned to call the 11-week blockade of aid to Gaza “cruel and indefensible.”
On Monday, Starmer joined French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in issuing one of the most significant criticisms by close allies of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and its actions in the West Bank.
The three leaders threatened to take “concrete actions” if the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not cease its renewed military offensive and significantly lift restrictions on humanitarian aid.
Netanyahu called the statement “a huge prize” for Hamas.
Starmer said a ceasefire was the only way to free the dozens of hostages Hamas still holds. He also called for increased shipments of humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying the basic quantity allowed by Israel is “utterly inadequate.”
“This war has gone on for far too long,” Starmer said. “We cannot allow the people of Gaza to starve.”
https://apnews.com/article/uk-starmer-israel-gaza-criticism-acabcdb4da0f1368f7e8a471cf494c0e