London: Britain, France and Canada are among 12 countries that have announced plans to impose trade restrictions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank or support such measures at the European level.
In a joint statement, the countries said Israeli government actions in the West Bank were undermining the prospects of a two-state solution.
Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom pledged to introduce national trade restrictions on settlements considered illegal under international law or support broader European measures.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced restrictions on goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank during an address to the House of Commons.
Miliband said Britain could no longer limit itself to speaking out against injustice and that it was time to take practical action against the expansion of Israeli settlements.
He also said the Israeli occupation of the West Bank was illegal and that Britain believed Palestinians there were being subjected to genocide.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, meanwhile, said on X that France would join 11 other countries in ending trade with Israeli settlements established in Palestinian territories.
Barrot said the situation in the West Bank had become increasingly tense, citing the rapid expansion of settlements and a rise in violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers.
According to a foreign news agency, the mechanism and timeline for implementing the trade restrictions have yet to be finalised.
The measures are expected to have only a limited impact on the roughly £6 billion ($8.12 billion) in annual bilateral trade between Britain and Israel, as it remains unclear how authorities will distinguish products made in West Bank settlements from those manufactured inside Israel.
