U.K. bans goods from occupied West Bank as Israel and U.S. warn of repercussions

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, backdropped by the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank city of Bethlehem (R), is seen in the Israel-annexed East Jerusalem on August 14, 2026. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP hide caption

LONDON — British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has announced a ban on imports of goods produced in Jewish settlements in the Israeli occupied West Bank, in what the U.K. government calls a "reset" of its relations with Israel.

The measures are intended to put pressure on Israel over settlement expansion, which the U.K. says is undermining prospects for a two-state solution.

In a joint statement Canada and France announced similar bans on goods from Israeli settlements, with France also pushing for an EU-wide ban.

They added their names to Ireland, Spain, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands who have already taken steps to restrict trade in settlement goods, or are in the process of doing so.

Speaking in the House of Commons Miliband said, "Our argument is not with the people of Israel, with whom the U.K. has unshakeable bonds, our argument is with the conduct of its government."

"The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists," Miliband told MP's. He said there had been "houses bulldozed, roads and public infrastructure destroyed, families displaced from their homes."

The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, warned of possible repercussions for British businesses in the U.S., while describing the U.K.'s move as "irrational."