Image source, Getty Images

We're expecting to hear UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announce new sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank soon - you'll be able to watch live on this page.

While we wait, here's some reaction to the expected policy from other UK parties.

The Liberal Democrats' spokesperson for international development, Monica Harding, is pushing the government to go further. She says "strong rhetoric isn't enough".

The party previously called for a ban on "all UK trade and financial services linked to illegal Israeli settlements".

Speaking for Reform UK, Deputy Leader Richard Tice warns Miliband's move could "embolden antisemitic hate crimes in UK" - Labour MP Peter Prinsley made a similar point earlier - as well as damage the UK's international standing with the US and Israel.

"It is self destructive virtue signalling that will make us less safe," Tice writes on X.

Deputy leader of the Green Party, Mothin Ali, suggests the move is "too little, too late". Ali wants a two-way ban on arms trade as well as "comprehensive" sanctions.

For the Conservatives, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accuses the government of putting party politics "ahead of national security".

We heard from him earlier this morning, but now the Conservative MP adds on X: "Settlements should stop, but the way to do that is to work with European and US allies to change Israeli policy."

An Israeli court has rejected an attempt to freeze the tenders for development on the proposed E1 settlement east of Jerusalem.

In a statement issued by campaign groups Ir Amim, Bimkom, and Peace Now, it says the Jerusalem District Court rejected a request for an interim injunction to halt the tender for 1,234 housing units.

"While the court denied the request for an injunction, the petitions against the E1 plans still remain pending with proceedings expected to continue over the next few months," the statement reads.

Israel opened up tenders last month for the construction of settlement homes in the so-called E1 area, which Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described as "illegal under international law" in his first speech to Parliament.

Image source, Getty Images

Florida Congressman Randy Fine has warned the UK that sanctions could cost British businesses "billions of dollars".

Writing on X, he says Florida law "would ban any British company forced to comply [with the sanctions] from doing business with any state or local government in Florida".

He labels sanctions a "vanity project" and refers to Florida as "one of Britain’s largest trading partners".

"Florida has made it clear. Any company - or nation - that boycotts Israel is boycotted by Florida," he adds.

In separate comments, the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told the BBC he thought sanctions would "without a doubt" provoke a US reaction.

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, there has been a sharp rise in settler expansion across the West Bank in recent years.

Tzofim - pictured above - is one example. Recent analysis of satellite imagery by BBC Verify showed the construction of around 185 new buildings in the settlement since 2022.

The below slider shows how the area looked in 2021 compared to today.

Israel's national security minister has called on Benjamin Netanyahu to "close the British consulate in East Jerusalem".

Itamar Ben-Gvir says in a statement on X the consulate operates "openly on behalf of the Palestinian authority".

"This must be Israel's resolute response to British audacity," he adds.

The BBC's international editor, Jeremy Bowen, istaking part in a Q&A on the BBC News channel now. You can watch live above now.

Bowen will also appear on Radio 4's World at One later along with:

• David Henig, trade expert
• Nigel Tobias, executive director of the British Israel Chamber of Commerce and a member of Manchester's Jewish Representative Council
• Matthew Gould, who worked for the Foreign Office for many years and was British ambassador to Israel from 2010-15

As we've been reporting, the West Bank is an area west of the River Jordan which has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 war. Settlements there are illegal under international law.

Israel has built around 160 settlements housing 700,000 people in that time. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

Israel recently opened up tenders for the construction of around 1,200 new homes in a strategically important part of the West Bank, known as E1.

For decades, Israel had held off on plans to build in this location amid international pressure. The development would in effect divide the West Bank in two.

Settlement expansion has risen sharply since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022 - and after the start of the Gaza war, triggered by Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

Settler violence has risen as well, our Middle East correspondent reports. Since the beginning of 2025, the UN has recorded 316 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers, and more than 5,600 injured, to the end of July 2026.

Huckabee wrong about UK sanctions on Russia, China and North Koreapublished at 12:16 BST

12:16 BST

Image source, Reuters

By Anthony Reuben

Speaking to BBC News this morning about the expected government sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee asked: “If the UK is really interested in dealing with issues they feel like are wrong, where are the sanctions against North Korea, China, Russia?”

In fact, the UK has wide-ranging sanctions against Russia, North Korea and more limited ones against China - as well as sanctions against specific individuals and companies.

The sanctions on Russia , externalban UK exports of a wide range of goods and services including military items, energy-related goods and technology and certain financial services. There is also a ban on importing products such as energy and weapons.

The sanctions regime against North Korea, external bans UK companies from selling military technology, dual-use items such as night-vision goggles, helicopters, industrial machinery, or luxury goods for use there. There are also restrictions on some imports, including buying gold and precious metals from government officials.

And there is a “partial, external arms embargo” on China, external, which covers UK exports of military vehicles and aircraft, lethal weapons and “any equipment which might be used for internal repression”.

We are now seeing reports that Canada and France are also looking to announce similar trade bans on settlements in the West Bank today.

Israeli daily Haaretz reports that the bans would similarly cover products.

The BBC Is looking to confirm the reports.

The government's planned trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank carry "a real risk of increased chances of attacks on the British Jewish community", a Labour MP has said.

"We're coming up to what are called the High Holidays, these are the most significant religious days for Jews all over the world and there is a heightened sense of vulnerability in the British Jewish community right now..." Peter Prinsley, the vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, told Radio 4's Today programme earlier.

"You don't want to be a prophet of doom but we are worried about this," he adds. "My fear is that opponents of Israel won't distinguish between Israeli government policy, Zionistic political philosophy and British Jews."

"As far as they're concerned, the whole thing's the same," he says.

British Jewish community has warned about 'unintended consequences' of sanctionspublished at 11:30 BST

11:30 BST

Daniel Wittenberg
Senior field producer

Britain’s Jewish community is small but politically diverse.

According to the latest polling, a majority disapprove of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – and historically there has been some opposition to the expansion of West Bank settlements. But that does not mean there is a consensus within the community over how Britain should respond.

After a meeting with Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner in Downing Street last week, a number of organisations representing British Jews issued a joint statement expressing “significant concerns about the unintended consequences” of potential sanctions on Israeli settlements.

They warned that “broad, un-targeted” measures could place strain on the Jewish community’s connection to religious and cultural sites in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall.

Their main criticism was that sanctions could “give legitimacy to a wider boycott movement that marginalises and stigmatises British Jews”.

There are also some who support the measures. Around 1,000 British Jews signed an open letter in July backing a ban on trade with Israeli settlements, organised by the left-wing Jewish group, Yachad.

This debate takes place against the backdrop of a heightened threat of antisemitism, following the deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue last year, a spate of arson attacks targeting Jewish property, and the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green earlier this year.

This has prompted the UK government to ramp up policing, committing an extra £251 million over three years, with a particular focus on the festival period starting with Jewish New Year this weekend.

And for many British Jews, there is unease about what impact UK policy towards Israel could have on public attitudes towards Jews in Britain.

Image source, PA Media

Shortly before becoming prime minister in July, Andy Burnham apologised for Labour's initial response to Israel's military action in Gaza, saying the party "didn't get it right".

He also said more needed to be done to "ensure the Israeli government adheres to international law and to keep the prospect of a two-state solution alive".

Labour previously lost support from some of its left-wing backers over Keir Starmer's initial response to the Gaza war.

During the early weeks of the conflict, Starmer backed humanitarian pauses to help aid reach Gazans but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.

Burnham has since said "the UK was too slow to call for a ceasefire".

He has also voiced concerns about the proposed E1 settlement, saying in the Commons last week that it could "imperil" or "end" the two-state solution.

Image source, Getty Images

The UK government's plan for trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are a "grave miscalculation", says Israel's president.

Speaking from Jerusalem on Tuesday, Isaac Herzog says the decision will "fall on the wrong side of history", adding: "In the current context, it would be a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation."

Herzog says the move will directly harm Palestinians and urges foreign governments to turn towards "constructive dialogue" and cooperation.

"Sanctions are not a solution," he says.

Image source, Getty Images

Hours before the UK government's expected sanctions announcement, Israel's national security minister has called on Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly recognise the Falkland Islands as occupied Argentinian territory, claiming the British violently stole the islands.

Itamar Ben-Gvir accused the British of carrying out oil drilling on the Falklands and stealing money from Argentina, calling on Netanyahu to impose sanctions on the UK.

In a 2013 referendum, residents of the islands voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory - with 99.8% voting in favour and just three voting against.

Meanwhile, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich last night called for the expulsion of the British ambassador.

"We will not be a doormat trampled by an antisemitic government," he wrote on X.

Rather than persuade Israel to change policy, sanctions could stiffen Netanyahu's resolvepublished at 10:43 BST

10:43 BST

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

This expected announcement from the UK comes ahead of an Israeli general election which is due to take place next month.

However, rather than persuading Israel to change its policy, which I don't think anyone in the UK thinks is likely, this move could stiffen Netanyahu's resolve.

He's trying to shore up his support, particularly on the hardline right, and this will give him ammunition. The idea that Israel is being threatened by outside forces is the sort of thing he could use to rally support.

It is a danger - but one that the UK government will have taken into account.

It is doubtful that a change in government in Israel might result in a significant change of policy when it comes to the West Bank - all of the main contenders believe that Israel's settlements are a matter of national importance.

There may be differences in terms of nuance and the speed at which settlements are developed or in how another Israeli government might choose to crack down on the violence that we have seen some Israeli settlers perpetrating in the West Bank in the last few years.

But none of them really are likely to accept the idea Israeli products manufactured in those settlements should be banned by allies.

Joe Coughlan
Live reporter

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

In the next few hours, the UK government is expected to announce new restrictions on buying goods and services from Israeli settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank. Here's what you need to know beforehand:

• The announcement comes a little under a month after Israel opened up tenders for the construction of some 1,200 settlement homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem
• Bids are currently scheduled to end days before Israel's general election in October - which would make it much harder for any future government to overturn any tenders issued
• Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said the expansion plans are "illegal under international law", adding that proceeding would risk "making a Palestinian state unviable"
• The sanctions would not be a "boycott of business with Israel", Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has said, adding that relations with Israel remain "important"
• Israel's Foreign Secretary Gideon Saar declined to answer the BBC's Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell on whether the country planned to retaliate following the sanctions, but told an Israeli podcast last week: "If Britain acts against the state of Israel, the state of Israel will act against Britain"
• US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has suggested British sanctions would "without a doubt" provoke a reaction from the US

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

EU member states are split on banning Israeli products from settlements in the West Bank, but an increasing number of countries are imposing their own measures.

A Dutch government ban is coming into effect from 22 September. In Ireland, a bill was signed into law over the summer banning goods from West Bank settlements, but not services. The Belgian government has also approved a ban. Spain did the same last year - but went further with a full arms embargo on Israel.

France and Sweden have both urged the EU to take more co-ordinated action and there is increasing support among member states.

European trade policy on Israel matters, because the EU is Israel's biggest trading partner making up 31.7% of Israel's total trade, external in goods with the world last year.

Relations are governed by an Association Agreement, but currently any food originating from settlements in the West Bank and Golan Heights has to be labelled as such.

Several EU states are opposed to a broader ban, notably Germany and the Czech Republic, and in July EU governments failed to agree on sanctions on Israeli settlements.

One of the key questions is whether this is a trade issue - which requires only a qualified majority of countries - or a foreign policy issue which requires unanimity.

The issue often becomes shrouded in domestic politics too. Slovenia's former liberal government had imposed a raft of measures on Israel, but when Janez Janša's conservative-led government returned to power in May those measures were reversed.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Agricultural produce exported from Israeli settlements includes Medjool dates, mangoes, avocados, grapes and fresh herbs. There are also products such as kosher wines, olive oil and some consumer goods.

We expect this ban to focus mainly on goods rather than services which would be a lot more complicated to implement.

Already UK laws require labelling of settlement goods to ensure consumers are not misled and because they do not qualify for preferential tariff treatments under the UK-Israel trade agreements.

In the Jordan Valley, in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli settler date farmer, Avigdor Arbel, tells me that all boycotts were "absolutely disgusting".

However, he brushes off the significance of a UK ban on settlement goods, saying that he and fellow settler growers were increasingly marketing their products to countries outside Europe, including India, China, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

Palestinian date farmers say they backed a UK ban as they had recently seen an increase in settlers using violence to seize more land and diverting their water supplies.

The UK has a free trade agreement with Israel.

But preferential tariff treatment is not available to goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Documentation is required to show where goods were produced.

"Where there are doubts about the declared origin of goods, HM Revenue and Customs undertakes checks to verify it," according to the House of Commons Library.

The government also has guidelines on how products from occupied territories should be labelled to avoid misleading consumers.

However, some still point to challenges distinguishing between goods coming from the West Bank and Israel.

Today's government announcement is not going to be a "boycott of business with Israel", the secretary of work and pensions has said.

Pat McFadden tells Radio 4's Today programme the expected measures come in response to a "continued expansion of settlement activity".

He says: "If they continue to expand then the possibility of that two-state solution becomes ever more difficult to achieve."

McFadden describes the UK's relationship with Israel as "important", both in terms of economics and security.

He also says there must be a distinction between criticism of the current Israeli government and the life of the British Jewish community, describing hostility towards such groups in the UK as "fundamentally wrong".