UK summons Israeli ambassador over West Bank settlement plan

The Foreign Office has summoned Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely over Tel Aviv’s approval of a major settlement in Palestine’s West Bank.

The move follows Israel’s decision to go ahead with the E1 settlement east of Jerusalem, which would effectively cut the West Bank in two.

In a joint statement on Thursday, foreign ministers from the UK, EU and 20 other countries called on Tel Aviv to reverse the decision, saying it would bring “no benefits to the Israeli people” and “risks undermining security and fuels further violence and instability”.

They added: “The Government of Israel still has an opportunity to stop the E1 plan going any further. We encourage them to urgently retract this plan.”

US Pressure

The E1 settlement has been under consideration by Israel for at least two decades, but has previously been prevented by pressure from the US.

Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who has been sanctioned by the UK, said the decision “buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no-one to recognise”.

Last month, Sir Keir Starmer announced the UK would recognise a Palestinian state in September if Israel did not meet certain conditions including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.

The UK had previously condemned approval of the E1 plan, granted on Wednesday, with Foreign Secretary David Lammy saying it would “mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution”.

On Thursday, the UK also joined 25 other members of the Media Freedom Coalition in urging Israel to “allow immediate independent foreign media access and afford protection for journalists operating in Gaza”.

Spotlight

The coalition said: “Journalists and media workers play an essential role in putting the spotlight on the devastating reality of war. Access to conflict zones is vital to carrying out this role effectively.

“We oppose all attempts to restrict press freedom and block entry to journalists during conflicts.

“We also strongly condemn all violence directed against journalists and media workers, especially the extremely high number of fatalities, arrests and detentions.”

Foreign media have been banned from entering Gaza since October 2023, other than for brief, tightly controlled trips escorted by the Israeli military, while numerous Palestinian journalists in the region have been killed.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 184 journalists and other media workers have been killed in Gaza since the renewal of hostilities in 2023.

The CPJ has accused Israel of “engaging in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists” the organisation had documented, allegations the Israeli government denies.

Ceasefire

The Media Freedom Coalition statement called for attacks on media workers to be investigated and those responsible prosecuted, and reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and “unhindered flow of humanitarian aid” into Gaza.

Other signatories alongside the UK included Australia, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

The statement comes a day after Israel called up 60,000 reservists ahead of an expanded military operation in Gaza City, an expansion condemned by Sir Keir as “wrong”.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office announced sanctions on an Iranian businessman accused of illicitly trading in Russian and Iranian oil.

Hossein Shamkhani, son of one of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s top advisers, was added to the UK sanctions list on Thursday along with four companies connected to him.

The move follows the imposition of sanctions on Mr Shamkhani by the United States, which said he used a network of companies to “launder billions in profits from global sales of Iranian and Russian crude oil and other petroleum products”.

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said: “The Shamkhani family’s shipping empire highlights how the Iranian regime elites leverage their positions to accrue massive wealth and fund the regime’s dangerous behaviour.”