Britain had to "stand for something", Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the UK parliament in a defence of his government's decision to block imports from Israeli settlements ⁠in the occupied West Bank.

Israel has ordered the closure of Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem after the United Kingdom, France, Canada and nine other countries announced plans to restrict trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The measures mark a sharp new deterioration in relations between Israel and some of its closest Western partners, amid escalating settler violence and renewed international concern that settlement expansion is undermining the prospects for a two-state solution.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has defended the decision to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, emphasizing fairness and justice.

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has rejected the chief rabbi’s warning that sanctions targeting illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank could make British Jews less safe.Chief Rabbi Sir...

The UK government has accused Israeli settler “terrorists” of carrying out ethnic cleansing against Palestinians in the West Bank as it announced sweeping new sanctions.Foreign Secretary...

PM Andy Burnham urges Britain to act against West Bank settlements, emphasising leadership and support for the two-state solution.