UK pledges tougher stance on Israeli actions in Gaza, West Bank

The United Kingdom’s government is set to take a tougher stance on Israel’s actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, the foreign minister has stated.

Addressing the Labour Party conference, Foreign Minister Ed Miliband called the Israeli government’s actions in the Palestinian territories “a stain on the conscience of the world”, and pledged new sanctions.

“I want to say to the millions of people in this country, and indeed elsewhere, who have been moved and outraged by the plight of the Palestinian people, ‘We hear you. You were right.'” Miliband said.

“We call out ethnic cleansing by the settler terrorists in the West Bank. We call out the evidence of war crimes in Gaza. We call out Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, and we match word with action,” he added before listing measures targeting economic links with Israeli settlements.

These included banning the import of goods from illegal settlements and disrupting the supply lines for British finance, British construction, and British services towards illegal settlements.

Miliband said that the ruling party has “reset its approach” under the leadership of Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

However, the government has been criticised for continued links to the Israeli government and for its treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters.

Dozens were arrested outside the conference in the northwestern city of Liverpool as they rallied in support of the banned Palestine Action group.

Miliband, who is Jewish, also warned against efforts to undermine the prospect of a Palestinian state, saying Labour would oppose moves that threaten the two-state solution.

Britain and other countries have voiced particular concern about the approval by Israel of the E1 settlement project east of Jerusalem, which would effectively cut the occupied West Bank in two.

Earlier this month, the UK government announced a ban on the import of all goods produced by illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, in the country’s most significant policy since London’s historic recognition of Palestinian statehood last year.

Burnham said that by enacting the ban, Britain was being true to its roots and taking a stand for “fairness against injustice”.

Miliband said when the ban was announced that “settler terrorists” were carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians, adding that there had been “houses bulldozed, roads and public infrastructure destroyed, families displaced from their homes”.

Miliband added that he feels “a deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the eyes of the international community”.