UK considering sanctions against far-right Israeli ministers

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Britain is considering imposing sanctions against far-right Israeli ministers, Sir Keir Starmer has said, as pressure grows on Israel over its conduct in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.

Lord David Cameron, the former Tory foreign secretary, had been planning to blacklist Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir before the UK’s general election, he revealed this week.

Asked about the Labour government’s view on the proposal by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, the UK prime minister told MPs on Wednesday: “We are looking at that.”

Davey drew attention to Smotrich’s remarks this summer, in which the far-right minister suggested it might be “justified and moral” to starve 2mn people in Gaza. Ben-Gvir also praised settlers suspected of murdering a teenage Palestinian in the West Bank last year as “heroes”.

Starmer condemned the “abhorrent” comments by the Israeli ministers and highlighted “really concerning activity” in the West Bank. He added: “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire. The death toll has passed 42,000 and access to basic services is becoming much harder.

“Israel must take all possible steps to avoid civilian casualties, to allow aid into Gaza in much greater volumes and provide the UN humanitarian partners the ability to operate effectively.”

UK foreign secretary David Lammy said on Wednesday that Britain, France and Algeria had called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to address the “dire” situation in northern Gaza, where he said access to basic services was worsening.

His intervention came after the US issued an ultimatum at the weekend to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to take “urgent and sustained actions” to improve the dismal humanitarian situation in Gaza, or jeopardise the supply of military aid from Washington.

The UK on Tuesday unveiled fresh sanctions targeting illegal outposts and organisations supporting extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Cameron said earlier this week that he had been “working up” plans to impose sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir in the days before the general election was called in May.

The proposal was then considered “too much of a political act” to pursue during the six-week purdah period before British voters headed to the polls, Cameron added.

Speaking to the BBC, he branded the two Israeli ministers “extremist” and urged Starmer to consider hitting them with sanctions to put pressure on Israel to comply with international law.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson declined to provide further details on the sanctions under review, but said: “We will continue to take action to challenge those responsible for illegal settlement and violence.”