UK Announces Sanctions, Import Ban on Israeli Settlement Goods

Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told parliament the UK will ban imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and impose a broader sanctions regime, calling the occupation unlawful and citing "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians there. The US and Israeli ministers criticised the move, which marks a notable Western policy shift on settlement expansion and the two-state solution. Disputes over the West Bank touch the biblical land promises central to Israel's covenant identity, though Scripture does not settle modern trade policy.