Amnesty praises UK's new ban on trade with Israeli settlements
Amnesty International welcomed Britain's decision to prohibit all trade with Israel's illegal settlement enterprises, calling it a long-overdue step.
Amnesty International’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns, Erika Guevara Rosas, praised the United Kingdom’s recent decision to impose a comprehensive trade ban on Israel’s illegal settlement activities. She framed the ban as a long-overdue acknowledgment that settlements lie at the core of Israel’s unlawful occupation, annexation and alleged ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. While welcoming the step, Rosas warned that it should mark the start of broader measures, including ending all military contracts with Israel and cutting any support that enables the continued apartheid-like regime.
She called for the UK to hold Israel accountable for genocide and other violations under international law. The activist concluded that the policy shift must be matched by concrete actions to end Israel’s impunity.
How this story developed
- Sep 1 EU debates ban on settlement products as Israeli forces raze West Bank homes
- Sep 7 Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged the US and the international community to help stop Israeli attacks after the strikes killed at least four people.
- Sep 7 Ed Miliband said Britain would ban goods from West Bank settlements and sanction firms supporting settlement expansion, citing evidence of war crimes and the need for a two-state solution. Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis warned the policy could increase anti-Semitic attacks on the UK Jewish community. Conservative minister Kemi Badenoch and other Tory leaders accused Labour of political posturing that could strain relations with Israel and the United States.
- Sep 7 Latest reports put the civilian death toll at up to twelve.
- Sep 7 Ed Miliband indicated the UK will announce the settlement trade ban this week.
- Sep 7 Britain plans to introduce extensive economic restrictions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including a trade ban on settlement-produced goods.
- Sep 8 The UK government announced a fast‑track plan to ban imports from Israeli settlements.
- Sep 8 Updated reports put the death toll at up to 12 and note the death of an 18‑year‑old rescue worker.
- Sep 8 Israel closed the UK consulate in East Jerusalem and barred British MPs and officials from entering Israel.
- Sep 8 US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggested the Trump administration could retaliate against Britain over its new trade sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements.
- Sep 8 Canada and a dozen European countries announced coordinated bans on settlement products.
- Sep 9 UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese called the UK settlement trade ban a tentative step and urged broader sanctions.
- Sep 9 UK joined eleven other countries in imposing a ban on West Bank settlement products.
- Sep 9 The sanctions were announced immediately before the start of Rosh Hashanah.
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