The UK government is preparing new restrictions on goods produced in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is expected to set out the measures in the House of Commons on Tuesday. They could include limits on trade in certain agricultural products from settlements.
Last week, Miliband said the UK would deliver a “comprehensive reset” of its policy on Israel. The Israeli government has previously warned it would retaliate if new UK measures were introduced.
Miliband Set To Outline Measures On Tuesday
Labour MPs who have received briefings on the plans believe the restrictions are designed to target trade linked to illegal settlements. They said the sanctions would extend beyond goods to include services as well.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Labour MPs at their weekly parliamentary meeting on Monday night that Miliband would make a statement in Parliament, according to several MPs present. Burnham was also said to have briefed international leaders about the proposals in phone calls on Monday afternoon.
No 10 said Burnham discussed the call with US President Donald Trump, with the prime minister stressing the importance of a two-state solution. An official summary of the conversation did not specify that the sanctions were among the topics, and the US has not commented, despite indications it is likely to oppose the proposals.
Scope Of Potential Trade Restrictions
The BBC has not seen the full details of the planned measures.
In July, Stephen Doughty, then Europe minister and now Middle East minister, told the business select committee that existing UK powers to impose restrictions were not sufficient. He said sanctions could be applied where evidence linked them to settler violence, but not, he argued, to other areas such as settlement contracting work. He said the government needed to widen its sanctions powers.
Ministers are also said to recognise that a ban on a relatively small quantity of mostly agricultural goods would be largely symbolic. However, the government is expected to present Tuesday’s announcement as a major reset in Britain’s broader approach to Israel.
E1 Settlement Plans And Two-State Pressure
The expected move comes after Israel published tenders for the construction of about 1,200 settlement homes in the E1 area, east of Jerusalem. The plans have drawn widespread international condemnation, and Israel has held back from developing the area for decades under global pressure.
In his first speech to Parliament as foreign secretary last week, Miliband said the E1 plans were “illegal under international law” and described them as crossing a “red line”, saying the development cuts through the heart of the West Bank and risks making a Palestinian state unviable.
Burnham also warned that the E1 announcement could “imperil or end” the two-state solution. The UK government believes the rapid expansion of settlements is jeopardising prospects for that outcome.
This intervention is coming just under a year after Sir Keir Starmer’s government recognised a state of Palestine and said the UK had a moral responsibility to support a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians.
Labour chair of the foreign affairs select committee Emily Thornberry said it was not enough for the UK merely to recognise Palestine, adding that the UK had to do what it could to protect the possibility of an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. She rejected the idea that the UK move would boost support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in upcoming elections, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Israel “is a democracy with many different views”.
Peter Prinsley, a Labour MP and vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, said he backed a two-state solution but had concerns about the impact of the announcement, including its effect on the election. He also said he had warned Miliband that the move carried a risk of increased attacks on the British Jewish community.
Jonathan Hall KC, the UK’s independent reviewer of terror legislation, told Newsnight there was “a risk” that making Israel a pariah would fuel antisemitic attacks, pointing to recent years in which such incidents had surged. He said he hoped ministers would be careful in how they described any measures.
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8 September 2026
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