U.K., France and Canada announce 12-country ban on Israeli settlement products

The UK, France, and Canada have announced a ban on products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, joining nine other countries in a coordinated effort. According to the UK's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, the ban is a response to "unprecedented settler violence and settlement expansion" that is undermining the prospects for a two-state solution.

Miliband stated that the UK's position is that the occupation in the West Bank is unlawful and that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, as per his comments to the House of Commons. The 12 countries, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden, said in a joint statement that Israel's actions in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-state solution.

The ban on settlement products has been welcomed by rights groups, but the Jewish Leadership Council has accused the UK government of putting a "target on British Jews". The announcement has been criticized for its timing, coming just before the Jewish High Holy Days, a period considered high-risk for antisemitic terror attacks.

Brief written by urgent.news from Haaretz, Jerusalem Post, Dawn, Arutz Sheva - Israel National News — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.