France and Canada to join UK in banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine

LAST UPDATE | 4 hrs ago

FRANCE AND CANADA will join the UK in announcing bans on products from illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine, following Ireland and other European countries that have introduced similar measures. 

The UK’s foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, announced a ban this afternoon as part of what he has billed as a “reset” in British-Israeli relations. He also said the UK would sanction companies that provide services that facilitate the development of settlements. 

The Israeli government has “turned a blind eye” to the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in the West Bank, Miliband said. 

Miliband confirmed that France and Canada would follow suit and introduce a similar ban when speaking in the House of Commons this afternoon.

“The UK, France and Canada welcome the important action already taken by Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium and will bring forward national measures to ban trade in settlement goods,” read a joint statement issued this afternoon.

Israel immediately moved to order the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem.

“The accusations made today by the foreign secretary in the British Parliament were outrageous lies,” Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar said.

A joint statement from foreign affairs ministers said the Israeli government “must immediately halt the expansion of settlements and civilian administrative powers, ensure accountability for settler violence, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces”.

It said Israel’s “legitimate security interests” were recognised, and the ministers wished to “reiterate our condemnation of the Hamas 7 October terrorist attack, the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust”.

Advertisement

“We are unequivocally committed to the two-state solution, in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, that enables Israel and a sovereign, democratic and viable Palestinian state to live side by side in peace, security and mutual recognition within secure and internationally recognised borders.”

Ahead of Miliband’s announcement, there were already threats and condemnations from Israeli leaders and their supporters.

Britain, France and Canada coordinated in a similar fashion when the three countries jointly recognised the State of Palestine in September 2025. 

The move to target Jewish settlements in Palestine comes as settler and Israeli military violence against Palestinians has worsened in recent years, but especially in the last few months. 

In signalling the British “reset” last month, Miliband pointed to the approval of the “E1″ settlement, which would effectively cut the West Bank in half and lead to the “destruction of the two-state solution”. 

An Israeli court today rejected a bid from rights groups to halt development of the settlement.

An Irish ban on trade with Israeli settlements, which applies only to goods and not services, completed its passage through the Oireachtas in mid-July but has not yet been signed into law. 

In August last year, Slovenia moved towards introducing a similar ban, as did Spain. Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands have made similar moves.

Efforts for an EU-wide prohibition along similar lines have failed to produce results, with a number of Israel’s allies among the member states exercising their vetoes.

Irish-led efforts to convince those states to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement have also proved fruitless so far.