ED Miliband is being urged to go further and “use every diplomatic and economic tool” at his disposal to stop Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine
The Foreign Secretary announced a ban on imports from illegal Israeli settlements in the Commons on Tuesday but stopped short of imposing a full arms embargo on the country, while leaving the door open to continued trade with the occupied West Bank.
Jean McLean, Oxfam’s chief influencing officer, described Miliband’s announcement as a “significant and welcome step towards respecting international law and supporting Palestinian rights” but said he must go further.
She said: “The ban remains one of the key actions the UK must take to fulfil its legal obligation and implement the International Court of Justice Advisory opinion.
“UK-settlement trade is driving human rights violations and entrenching Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land. Settler and state-led violence is surging.
“British-made arms components fuel ongoing genocide in Gaza, continuing to kill and maim civilians.
“The UK must now extend this ban further to include all services and investment in illegal Israeli settlements, immediately halt all arms sales to Israel when they might be used to commit international law violations, and use every diplomatic and economic tool at its disposal to push for an end to the unlawful occupation and support Palestinian self-determination.”
Steve Cutts, the CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians, said that the move was a "substantial and welcome shift" which he hoped signalled "that the UK is finally ready to take action against Israel’s settlement project and policy of ethnic cleansing after decades of impunity".
The charity boss added: "We know that Israel’s atrocities will only truly end when impunity does. Today's decision by the UK gives momentum to attempts to uphold international law and protect Palestinians. But this must not be the limit of UK action. We urge the government to continue to seize this important opportunity."
Amnesty International UK said the decision "could be the sea change that is needed", with chief executive Kerry Moscogiuri adding: "The test now is whether these commitments are properly implemented and enforced, and followed by the wider action needed to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and meet the UK’s obligations under international law.”
Brendan O'Hara, the SNP's Middle East spokesperson, said his party "genuinely welcome this statement" but expressed concern the sanctions could be "largely symbolic", citing a report by Bloomberg.
He said: "It is somewhere between heart-breaking and criminal that it’s taken three years and 70,000 Palestinian deaths for the UK Government to finally arrive at this position. Already, however, we’re hearing that elements within the FCDO are briefing that these sanctions are largely symbolic.
"Will the Foreign Secretary utterly refute that and will he confirm that these sanctions are not fixed and that there can and will be further action should Israel press ahead with its illegal expansion programme?"
Miliband said: "On the sanctions regime, I think it is substantive, I think it’s going to make a substantive difference and that is absolutely our intention and he’s absolutely right that once we bring in the sanctions regime, we of course always keep its scope under review."
First Minister John Swinney said: "The UK Government's announcement of a trade ban on Israeli settlements is welcome and long overdue.
"Scotland has proudly recognised the State of Palestine, and we are clear that Israel must be held to account for the genocide in Gaza and its damaging actions in the West Bank.
"These settlements are illegal under international law and are deeply wrong.
"Their presence, as well as the appalling settler violence against Palestinian communities, undermine the prospects of a sustainable Palestinian state in a lasting two-state solution.
"There can be no impunity for violations of international law – no ifs, no buts."
Humza Yousaf, the former first minister whose in-laws were trapped in Gaza at the beginning of the genocide, welcomed the Foreign Secretary's announcement, saying: "For far too long, Israel has been allowed to build settlements with total impunity, with no consequences, no cost, no repercussions. Today the UK has finally said that stolen land will not be laundered through British markets, this is a welcome step in the right direction."
But he noted that the import ban "does not stop a single bomb falling", adding: "If we accept that this Israeli government is acting in flagrant breach of international law – and this announcement is an admission that it is – then we cannot go on arming it.
“I listened carefully to what the Foreign Secretary said about arms sales to Israel, and I would urge him to go further and must end the supply of all weapons, arms and military components to Israel, including through the F-35 supply chain.
"It should extend sanctions to the ministers driving annexation, and it should declare Benjamin Netanyahu – a man subject to an [International Criminal Court] arrest warrant – persona non grata. Benjamin Netanyahu should not be welcome in the UK."
In a statement, the British Palestinian Committee said that the measures “bring the UK closer to meeting its obligations under international law” but called for a full arms embargo and called on the Government to “ensure that neither the government nor British companies profit from, facilitate, or assist Israel’s unlawful occupation, settlement project, and dispossession of the Palestinian people”.
In his statement to the Commons on Tuesday, the Foreign Secretary said that goods from illegal settlements would be banned from sale in Britain as he made an “overdue statement of reality” that the occupation of the West Bank was unlawful.
While there will now be a “double-lock” on arms sales under the current partial embargo, Miliband did not accept demands from campaigners to ban all weapons sales.
The UK is estimated to supply around 15% of the components in the F-35 fighter jets which are used in airstrikes across the occupied Palestinian territory.
There will also be “a new comprehensive sanctions regime”, Miliband announced, targeting “specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion”.
