Arab News | UK strengthens human rights-related sanctions to address issue of Israeli settlements

LONDON: An expanded regime of human rights-related sanctions came into force in the UK on Thursday, which grants the government wider powers to take action in response to the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.

When the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, announced the changes last month, he said they would allow for “swifter action to deter settlement expansion.”

The introduction of the new powers was timed so that they would take effect ahead of an Oct. 19 deadline for bids on construction of an Israeli settlement planned for the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, northeast of East Jerusalem, The Guardian newspaper reported.

The new settlement threatens the prospects for a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine because it would separate key areas of Palestinian territory envisioned as forming part of a future state.

The expanded sanctions regime was announced alongside a raft of new powers and provisions related to settler violence and illegal settlement activity. They include a ban on imports to the UK of goods produced in settlements, and newly designated powers to sanction individuals and businesses that “support, facilitate or profit from illegal settlement activity.”

The strengthened global human rights sanctions regime was designed to target “those who commit serious violations of international humanitarian law, in Palestine and around the world,” the Foreign Office said last month.

The tougher stance on settlements adopted by the government of the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, sparked a furious reaction from Israeli authorities. They threatened to close the historic British consulate in Jerusalem last week before downgrading it to the status of “UK Mission,” forcing the UK to withdraw about 20 diplomats.