Israel on Tuesday ordered the closure of the British Consulate in Jerusalem in response to Western sanctions led by London over settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Britain would no longer be allowed to participate in a US-led coordination mission in Gaza and that British training for Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank would be halted.
Sa’ar added that Israel would bar 12 British figures from entering the country, including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, a prominent supporter of the Palestinian cause, and 11 members of the British Parliament. Among them is Zara Sultana, who joined Corbyn in leaving the ruling Labour Party to establish the left-wing Your Party.
He described allegations made by the British foreign secretary in Parliament as “outrageous and false.”
The British government announced a ban on imports of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, alongside a package of sanctions targeting settlement expansion and individuals and companies contributing to it.
Twelve foreign countries have also announced plans to impose sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, following an escalation in attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages in the occupied territories.
Measures announced Tuesday by Britain and other Western countries targeting trade with Israeli settlements triggered angry reactions in Israel, including calls to expel the British ambassador, close the British Consulate in East Jerusalem and take countermeasures.
Source: Agencies
