UK readies sanctions against Israel to deter proposed illegal West Bank settlement | Foreign policy | The Guardian

The UK Foreign Office and a group of western countries are due to announce a package of sanctions against Israel this week designed to deter companies from becoming involved in a proposed West Bank settlement that would split the territory in two and render the concept of a two-state solution near impossible.

Tenders were opened this month for the development of more than 3,000 homes between Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim. The development would split the West Bank between north and south, and so in effect make a contiguous Palestinian West Bank impossible.

Last week, the UN committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people condemned an order signed by the Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, to start displacing the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank, saying it would “heighten the risk of forced transfer of the civilian population” and calling such a move illegal and a war crime.

The letter states: “The case for ending trade with settlements is clear. The international court of justice has directed third states not to enter into ‘trade dealings with Israel concerning the occupied Palestinian territory’, which is widely interpreted as meaning states must not trade with settlements.”

It argues that the UK would not need primary legislation to enact a ban as there is “a precedent in UK law and policy of not trading with illegally occupied lands”, including Crimea and other illegally occupied parts of Ukraine.