UK to unveil 'comprehensive' response to Israeli West Bank settlement plans in coming weeks

Sep 1, 2026

Israeli settlers look out through a metal fence, as an Israeli flag flutters nearby, on the day of their weekly tour in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 29, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma — Mussa Qawasma

LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Britain will set out a "comprehensive" package of measures on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in the coming weeks, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on Tuesday.

Miliband told lawmakers that Israel's E1 settlement project would cut across land which the Palestinians seek for a state and "risks making a Palestinian state unviable".

"This government will not acquiesce in the destruction of the two-state solution," he said. "We will act and I will set out a comprehensive set of measures in the coming weeks."

Britain and other European nations have criticised Israel's plans, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham said before taking office that he was "looking at measures to ban trade in goods with illegal settlements".

The Times reported on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is "closely" tracking any plans to introduce a trade ban.

(Reporting by William James, writing by Sam Tabahriti and Sam Tobin)

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