The British government says it will halt new free trade negotiations with Israel due to military action in the war with Gaza. There, hundreds of Palestinians have recently been killed under artillery fire, and new attacks have been launched.
Speaking to Parliament on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary David Lamy said he was imposeting additional sanctions on the front post bases of illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank, where the UK occupied, but Israeli Israeli ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry.
This comes when the European Union votes to consider a trade cooperation deal with Israel, Kaha Karas, the bloc’s foreign policy director, said Tuesday.
The action came a day after Britain, France and Canada condemned the handling of the war in Gaza and assaults and raids in the West Bank.
British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer on Tuesday reinforced his pointy criticism of Israel, calling for a ceasefire, saying the level of suffering by children in Gaza was “completely unbearable.”
As settler violence against Israeli military-backed Palestinians has skyrocketed over recent months, Ramie said the enduring cycle of violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank called for action.
In addition to the previous sanctions imposed, the UK is currently imposeting sanctions on another “three individuals, two illegal settlers’ front post bases, and two organizations supporting violence against the Palestinian community,” he added.
He said the UK’s existing trade agreement with Israel remains in effect, but it cannot accept new debates with the Israeli government pursuing “bad policies” in Gaza and the West Bank.
“The Israeli government is responsible for intervening and halting these aggressive actions,” Ramie said. “Their consistent failure in action is to put solutions in the Palestinian community and the two states at risk.”
UK Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer will also tell the Israeli ambassador that “an 11-week block of aid to Gaza is cruel and vulnerable,” Lamy added.
Israel quickly condemned the UK’s decision. “Even before today’s announcement, negotiations on a free trade agreement had not made any progress by the current British government,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry called the UK sanctions “unjust and regretted.”
Arm to Israel
The Labour government has been heavily criticized at home for not saying enough or doing enough to support the Palestinians under the constant fires of besieged Gaza.
Labour MP Zara Sultana has accused the Starmer government of “conspirators” in the “complained by collective punishment campaign conducted with immunity.”
She told Al Jazeera:
“This is not a tragic accident in war. It is a predictable outcome of a campaign of collective punishment with immunity. The failure of Britain’s actions is not merely a moral embarrassment. It is a political choice.”
Former Labour leader and Independent Parliamentary member Jeremy Corbyn also told Al Jazeera “the only way the government can stop complicity with genocide.” “End military cooperation with Israel and impose sanctions.”
The Labour government has suspended several arms export licenses to Israel, but has set an exception to the F-35 fighter jet program, citing its obligations to the international supply chain.
Meanwhile, reports from the Palestinian Youth Movement, Progressive International and free Palestinian workers revealed that the UK had sent “8,630 independent ammunition” since the partial arms halt came into effect earlier this month in September.
According to data from the UK government itself, released Thursday, it approved Israel £127.6 million ($171 million) worth of military equipment between October and December 2024, despite the introduction of a partial arms embargo.
Last week, a high court case began challenging the UK’s handling of arms export controls against Israel.
Gearoid o Cuinn is the founder of the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), which the UK government took to court over the sale of arms, told Al Jazeera that the government’s decision to halt future trade transactions “is not related to the immediate catastrophe in Gaza.”
“It’s not the future trade contracts that are promoting murder and starving children,” he said. “It’s a continuing supply of British arms and military support.”
EU votes to consider Israeli trade deals
As international pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government grew, the European Commission began reviewing trade deals with Israel in response to the “devastating” situation in Gaza.
Kaja Kallas, the head of foreign policy for the EU, said the “strong majority” of EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels supported the review of the bloc’s association agreement with Israel.
The move aims to determine whether Israel has violated its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
French Foreign Minister Jeannoel Barott spoke in Parliament and welcomed the decision and said 17 of the 27 EU member states supported the proposal.
Crows also confirmed that EU sanctions targeting violent Israeli settlers have been created but remained blocked by one member state she did not name.
“The assistance given by Israel is of course welcome,” Karas said. “But that is a decline in the ocean. Aid must flow on a large scale without blockage.
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