Web Desk(National Times)- British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on Tuesday accused the Israeli government of turning a \u201cblind eye\u201d to what he called \u201cethnic cleansing\u201d by settlers in the West Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a video statement, he called the situation in Palestine a \u201cmoral emergency\u201d and said that there is increasing evidence of war crimes in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are witnessing unprecedented settler terrorism in the West Bank,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe British government has come to the same conclusion as the former prime minister of Israel and others, that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that Tel Aviv had not only ignored these developments, but that members and officials had made statements or taken actions enabling the forced displacement of Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will not stand by. We\u2019re going to be stronger in standing up for what is right, and bolder in the action we take,\u201d Miliband said, adding that London\u2019s north star was the two-state solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToday, we are calling out the occupation of Palestine as unlawful,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are banning the import of goods from illegal settlements, we\u2019re taking action on services to target those who finance, facilitate or construct new settlements, and we\u2019re banning advertisements of settlement properties and land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In parliament today, Miliband said the British government would introduce \u201can import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories\u201d, in a move coordinated with other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists,\u201d said Miliband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also announced that Britain would \u201ctake action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion\u201d and that the measures would be in place within six to nine months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miliband added that the UK was sanctioning \u201ca further set of extremist settlers who have supported or incited acts of violence against Palestinian communities\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miliband, the son of Jewish refugees to Britain, said he was \u201cproud\u201d of his Jewish heritage and was \u201cunwavering\u201d in his support of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is absolutely no contradiction between this and my support for the State of Palestine,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States will not join the UK-led sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements, and that it does not want anything to destabilise the West Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cObviously, we\u2019re not going to do what the UK did,\u201d Rubio told journalists about the sanctions before departing on a trip to Latin America, adding: \u201cWe don\u2019t want to see anything destabilising going on right now in the West Bank with so much going on in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twelve countries, including the UK, Canada and France, said they would slap sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, after increasing attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages in the occupied territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden also plan to limit trade with the settlements, the nations\u2019 foreign ministers said in a joint statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ireland and Spain have already taken measures against trade with Israeli settlements, and France has for weeks been pushing for a similar decision from the European Union<\/a>, Israel\u2019s leading trading partner, but has been blocked by some members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe government of Israel\u2019s actions in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-state solution,\u201d the 12 ministers said, referring to a plan under which two states \u2014 one Israeli and one Palestinian \u2014 would live peacefully side by side.Israeli soliders gather during a military operation after a Palestinian man barricaded himself inside a home in the Israel-occupied West Bank village of Aqraba, south of the city of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on September 8, 2026. \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe situation is rapidly deteriorating amid unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion,\u201d they warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe government of Israel must immediately halt the expansion of settlements and civilian administrative powers, ensure accountability for settler violence, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ministers said the 12 countries \u201cconfirm their intention to introduce national and\/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law, or that they are actively considering these and other measures, in accordance with their national procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Israeli court rejected a bid from rights groups to halt the development of a settlement in the occupied West Bank that would severely undermine the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Jerusalem District Court said in a ruling it had dismissed the motion, which aimed to stall the publication of tenders for the settlement east of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel\u2019s construction and housing ministry opened a tender for construction of more than 1,200 housing units in July<\/a>, leading NGOs to file motions against it.An image taken from the Israeli-occupied West Bank village of Aqraba shows the the new illegal Israeli outpost (C) being built on Palestinian land and sandwiched between Aqraba and Jurish (on the hill), south of the West Bank city of Nablus on September 8, 2026. \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n\n\n\n The E1 plan<\/a> \u2014 approved by Israel last year after decades of being frozen, notably due to pressure from successive US administrations \u2014 would further isolate Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. Six European countries, including the UK and France, called on Israel to halt the project<\/a> in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Israeli judge ruled that \u201cno irreversible physical changes are imminent, and adequate legal safeguards are in place\u201d for the development project, arguing that courts could bring a permanent ruling on the project as a whole, well before physical construction begins on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The petitioners, including Israeli NGO Peace Now, had argued that the project would lead to the eviction of hundreds of Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe court\u2019s decision plays into the government\u2019s hands, allowing it to use the final months of its term to establish facts on the ground that will create a destructive reality which will be extremely difficult to reverse,\u201d the NGOs said in a statement reacting to the ruling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Web Desk(National Times)- British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on Tuesday accused the Israeli government of turning a \u201cblind eye\u201d to what he called \u201cethnic cleansing\u201d by settlers in the West Bank. In a video statement, he called the situation in Palestine a \u201cmoral emergency\u201d and said that there is increasing evidence of war crimes in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>Israeli court rejects petition to halt key settlement project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n