PA Media/dpa
London
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy criticized the "inaction of the Israeli government” for allowing "impunity to flourish” among extremist settlers in the West Bank as the UK announced a fresh wave of sanctions in response to continued violence.
The measures target three outposts and four organizations that have supported and perpetrated "heinous abuses of human rights” against Palestinian communities in the occupied territory, the Cabinet minister said.
The new sanctions come as David Cameron revealed that the previous government had been preparing to sanction two Israeli ministers over comments encouraging blocking aid to Gaza.
Tirzah Valley Farm Outpost, Meitarim Outpost and Shuvi Eretz Outpost are the three settlements targeted in the latest restrictions.
The four organizations sanctioned are Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva, a religious school known to promote violence against non-Jewish people; Hashomer Yosh, a group which provides volunteers for illegal outposts; Torat Lechima, a registered charity which provides financial support to the settlements; and construction company Amana.
There has been a huge rise in settler violence in the West Bank over the last year, with the UN recording more than 1,400 attacks by the illegal settlers since October 2023.
Lammy said: "When I went to the West Bank earlier this year, on one of my first trips as foreign secretary, I met with Palestinians whose communities have suffered horrific violence at the hands of Israeli settlers.
"The inaction of the Israeli government has allowed an environment of impunity to flourish where settler violence has been allowed to increase unchecked. Settlers have shockingly even targeted schools and families with young children.”
He said the latest measures will "help bring accountability to those who have supported and perpetrated such heinous abuses of human rights.”
He added: "The Israeli government must crack down on settler violence and stop settler expansion on Palestinian land. As long as violent extremists remain unaccountable, the UK and the international community will continue to act.”
Cameron, Lammy’s predecessor as foreign secretary, told the BBC on Tuesday that he had been "working up” sanctions against Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir during his final days in the role.
The Conservative former minister described the two Israeli ministers as "extremists” and argued it would have been a way of putting "pressure” on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to act in line with international law.
Cameron said: "When you look at what they say, they have said things like encouraging people to stop aid convoys going into Gaza, they have encouraged extreme settlers in the West Bank with the appalling things they have been carrying out.” Asked why the sanctions had not been imposed, Cameron said he had been advised the move would have been too "political” during an election.
Smotrich was recently criticized for appearing to suggest it might be "just and moral” to withhold food aid from Gaza, while Ben-Gvir has backed the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Lammy has condemned both men but declined to commit on sanctioning them when urged to do so during a Commons debate last month.
He did, however, suggest that sanctions relating to settler violence in the West Bank would be "kept under close review” during this year’s Labour Party conference.