BRUSSELS/JERUSALEM/GAZA/AMMAN – Foreign ministers of 12 countries moved on Tuesday to tighten restrictions on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as mounting settlement expansion and violence fuel growing concerns over the viability of a two-state solution.

Foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Britain said in a joint statement that they intended to introduce national restrictions, support European measures, or were actively considering other steps in line with their national procedures.

The ministers said the situation in the West Bank was "rapidly deteriorating" amid what they described as unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion.

Among the 12 countries, Britain, France and Canada said they would bring forward national measures to ban trade in settlement goods, while welcoming steps already taken by Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium.

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Britain on Tuesday announced some of the most detailed measures so far. Speaking in the House of Commons, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Britain would introduce a ban on imports of goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

He said that Britain would also establish a new sanctions regime targeting specific companies and individuals providing construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate services that contribute to settlement expansion. Advertising in Britain for property in Israeli settlements would also be prohibited.

Miliband announced a shift in Britain's legal position, saying the British government now considered Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories unlawful.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X that France would "end trade" with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, adding that France could not, through its trade, support a situation that threatened Israelis, Palestinians and regional stability. He also urged Europe to adopt the same approach.

Some other European countries have already been moving in a similar direction.

Spain has already prohibited imports of settlement goods and related commercial advertising. Belgium has decided to introduce an import ban and in July approved draft implementing rules under which permits for goods originating from Israeli settlements would be refused. Ireland has approved draft legislation to ban imports of settlement goods.

The Netherlands has adopted a national ban on the import, purchase and sale of settlement goods, as well as related intermediary services, which will take effect on Sept 22, while Norway has put proposed legislation banning imports from and exports to settlements out for public consultation.

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The EU has also stepped up sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers. On May 28, it listed four entities and three individuals over serious human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank. The measures include asset freezes, funding bans and travel restrictions. The bloc, however, has yet to impose an EU-wide ban on trade with Israeli settlements.

The latest push for tougher measures followed Israel's advancement of the E1 settlement project in the West Bank in August by issuing a tender for 1,234 housing units.

According to the tender published online by Israel's Ministry of Construction and Housing, the project covers part of a broader plan to build 3,401 housing units in the E1 area east of Jerusalem.

The 12 foreign ministers said the E1 decision was among the developments undermining prospects for a Palestinian state and called on the Israeli government to immediately halt settlement expansion and ensure accountability for settler violence.

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog criticized the planned British move on Tuesday, calling sanctions a "grave miscalculation."

The 12 ministers also reiterated their condemnation of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and recognized Israel's legitimate security interests.

They reaffirmed support for a two-state solution under which Israel and a sovereign, democratic and viable Palestinian state would live side by side in peace and security within internationally recognized borders. 

Israel announces measures against Britain

In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar on Tuesday announced a series of countermeasures against Britain, including closing the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem and removing British personnel from a US-led Gaza coordination center, in response to London's decision to ban imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

At a press conference, Sa'ar said the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem, Britain's main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians, would be shut down.

British representatives would be removed from the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel, he added.

Sa'ar said that Israel would bar 12 British officials deemed "anti-Israel" from entering the country and end the activities of the British Support Team in Ramallah, a military mission that assists Palestinian Authority security forces.

4 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in Gaza Strip

Meanwhile, at least four Palestinians were killed and several others wounded on Tuesday by Israeli shelling and gunfire in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian medical and local sources.

In the southern Gaza Strip, Ubaida Al-Sheikh Al-Eid, a child, was shot dead by the Israeli army in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis, local medical sources said.

Separately, a young man, Khamis Saad, was killed and 11 others wounded in an Israeli airstrike targeting a tent in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, the sources added.

Local sources and eyewitnesses reported that Israeli aircraft have launched more than 10 airstrikes throughout the day, targeting residential homes, tents sheltering displaced people, and agricultural land.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army regarding these strikes. Israel's Channel 12 reported that the army had begun launching attacks against Hamas weapons depots in Gaza.

Earlier in the day, two other Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.

Since a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect in October 2025, Israeli attacks have killed 1,352 Palestinians and injured 4,511 others, according to Gaza-based health authorities.

The authorities added in its daily report that the total death toll since Oct 7, 2023, has risen to 73,658, with 174,622 people injured.

Jordan sends humanitarian aid convoy to Gaza

In Amman, the Jordanian Red Crescent said Monday it has sent a humanitarian aid convoy to the Gaza Strip.

The convoy departed from Amman and is heading to Gaza via Egyptian ports and crossings, the Jordanian Red Crescent said in a statement.

Mohammad Hadid, president of the Jordanian Red Crescent Society, said the convoy reflects Jordan's continued support for the Palestinian people and its commitment to delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.