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See the full story · 1 sourcesBritish Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Britain would not “stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution”.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced plans for targeted sanctions against Israelis involved in illegal settlement expansions in Gaza and the West Bank. Miliband criticised the Israeli government's tender for 1,200 homes in the E1 area, warning it threatens the two-state solution by dividing the West Bank from East Jerusalem. Britain is preparing a comprehensive response to Israeli policies, reflecting a tougher stance under Prime Minister Andy Burnham and aligning with similar European criticisms. AI generated
LONDON – British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the government would prepare new targeted sanctions against Israelis participating in “illegal settlement expansion” in Gaza and the West Bank, in the latest sign of Labour’s hardening stance towards the Middle East nation.
Miliband said in a statement released on the night of Aug 19 that Britain would not “stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution,” after the Israeli government opened the tender for the construction of 1,200 settlement homes in the strategically important so-called E1 area of the West Bank.
“E1 would cut across the heart of Palestine and risks separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem, which would endanger the viability of a two-state solution,” Miliband said, calling the Israeli government’s actions “unacceptable and destructive.”
He asked his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar to “halt E1 plans immediately” and retract the tender.
Miliband also said he had summoned the country’s top diplomat in Britain, chargé d’affaires Daniela Grudsky Ekstein, to the Foreign Office to make those demands clear.
Miliband said Britain would lay out “a comprehensive set of measures to respond to Israeli government policies” over the coming weeks.
The measures underscore a tougher British stance toward Benjamin Netanyahu’s government under new Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
The shift was evident even before Burnham formally became prime minister.
He apologised for Labour’s previous stance on Israel’s military action in Gaza under predecessor Keir Starmer, saying the party “didn’t get it right.”
In July, Wes Streeting, Britain’s new defence secretary, said Israel had “fallen short” of international standards in Gaza and the West Bank.
Other European allies have also hardened their stance on Israel – earlier on Aug 19, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz forcefully condemned comments from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calling for nightly assassinations in Gaza. BLOOMBERG
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