Arab News | Israel tells British consulate in East Jerusalem to close, sources say

Israel has informed the British consulate in East Jerusalem that it must close and ‌that diplomats assigned ‌there will ‌lose their accreditation within 30 days, an Israeli official and a source familiar with ‌the ‌matter said.

British representatives ‌assigned to ‌a US-led Gaza coordination mission in Israel, as ‌well as British diplomats based in Ramallah, must leave within seven days, the source familiar with the matter said.

Israel on Tuesday ordered the closure of Britain’s consulate in Jerusalem as retaliation after London led Western sanctions over violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Britain on Tuesday announced a trade ban on goods made in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in coordination with France and Canada, the latest sanctions to target Israel as it faces growing diplomatic isolation.

British Foreign Minister Ed Miliband said Britain could no longer simply “call out” injustice and suffering, but told the House of Commons that the country now had to “act” to oppose the expansion of settlements.

“Today we refuse to be bystanders to further suffering and to the destruction of the two-state solution,” Miliband said, referring to Britain’s long-held support for the two-state idea, which Israel opposes.