Israel closes British Consulate in Jerusalem as settlement row escalates

Israel has notified Britain that its consulate in East Jerusalem must close within 30 days and that its diplomats will lose their accreditation, Israeli officials said on Wednesday, in retaliation for British sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar on Tuesday announced a series of countermeasures: closing the British consulate, removing British representatives from the US-led International Gaza Support Center in southern Israel, ending British training of Palestinian Authority security forces in Ramallah and barring 12 British officials from entering Israel. Sa'ar said Britain had "initiated and led" the moves against Israel and warned of possible measures against other countries.

Earlier on Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the House of Commons that Britain would ban imports of goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and restrict British companies from providing financing, construction and advertising services for new settlements. Miliband said Britain would not remain silent on Gaza and the settlements, noting that the Gaza conflict has killed more than 70,000 people, including at least 20,000 children, and displaced the vast majority of the population. He said investigations by multiple bodies, including the UN's independent commission of inquiry, had found evidence that may constitute war crimes, and that Britain supports legal determination of the matter.

Also on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Britain issued a joint statement committing to restrict trade in goods with the settlements and urging Israel to immediately halt settlement expansion. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said on social media that all EU member states agree the settlements violate international law and that their expansion is undermining the prospects of a two-state solution.

The Palestinian presidency welcomed the 12-nation statement as an important step toward accountability for settlement activities, calling on the countries, the EU and the international community to turn their positions into binding measures, including banning trade with settlements, sanctioning extremist settlers and canceling tenders for the E1 settlement project. It reaffirmed Palestine's commitment to a just and lasting peace based on international law and UN resolutions, including an independent, sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The measures mark the latest escalation in tensions between Israel and its European partners over settlement expansion in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

(With input from agencies)