UK, France and Canada Announce Import Bans on Israeli Settlement Goods; Israel Closes UK Consulate in Retaliation

The UK, France and Canada announced on Tuesday, September 8, 2026 that they will ban the import of goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and will sanction individuals and companies providing financing, construction and other services to settlements. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Sweden pledged to support further EU-level action. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the UK would no longer be 'bystanders to further suffering and to the destruction of the two-state solution,' and separately accused violent settlers of 'ethnic cleansing.' Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced retaliatory measures: closing Britain's consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, ending British training of Palestinian Authority security forces, banning a list of British lawmakers and a lawyer from entering Israel, and removing British participation from the US-led Gaza civil-military coordination mission. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would 'obviously' not join the sanctions, citing a preference for regional stability. Eight Muslim-majority and Arab states — Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Indonesia — issued a joint statement on September 9 welcoming the British-led measures and urging other governments to follow.