Escalation: UK government declares West Bank occupation unlawful

Britain banned imports of goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and unveiled a sanctions regime against companies and individuals who enable settlement expansion. Measures include curbs on UK exports that materially contribute to the occupation and a ban on advertising Israeli settlement property to UK consumers. The government also said the occupation of the West Bank is unlawful and that settlers are carrying out ethnic cleansing in parts of the territory.

Sanctions on violent settlers took immediate effect, with five more individuals added and 38 now designated in total. The wider regime covering construction, infrastructure, finance and real estate is slated to come into force within six to nine months.

Israel ordered the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem to close within 30 days, moved to remove British staff from a Gaza coordination center, halted British training of Palestinian Authority forces, and barred a dozen British MPs and officials from entry. Britain acted alongside 11 other countries planning or imposing restrictions on settlement trade, including France and Canada, while the United States said it would not join.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources