UK bans Israeli settlement goods

A significant new front is opening in the international pressure on Israel, with a group of European governments moving beyond condemnation to target trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Britain and France are among twelve countries — alongside Canada — announcing or considering restrictions on settlement goods, citing what they described as unprecedented settler violence and accelerating settlement expansion that threatened the viability of a future Palestinian state.

Britain has gone further, announcing a ban on settlement imports and services linked to their expansion, while accusing extremist settlers of carrying out "ethnic cleansing" against Palestinians.

Israel has reacted angrily, announcing the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem, while the United States has warned of possible repercussions.

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