UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has warned that Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank is threatening to destroy the possibility of a two-state solution before it is too late to save it.
Speaking to the BBC, Miliband said Britain had to publicly challenge the expansion of Israeli settlements because the prospect of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel was being undermined by developments on the ground.
“The prospect of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is being destroyed by the facts on the ground.”
Miliband said the UK had to “call out” Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank as part of efforts to preserve the possibility of a negotiated two-state solution.
“Call out”
The Foreign Secretary also rejected suggestions that British sanctions against Israeli settlements could contribute to increased antisemitism against Jewish people in the UK.
His comments came a day after he told Parliament that Britain would ban the import of goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The UK government’s decision has drawn a strong response from Israel, which announced four counter-measures against Britain within hours.
Among the measures is the closure of the UK consulate in Jerusalem, which is expected to shut within 30 days.
Israel has also announced a ban preventing 11 British MPs from entering the country, including Zarah Sultana, Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott.
Miliband has also accused extremist settlers of carrying out what he described as “ethnic cleansing”, while accusing the Israeli government of turning a blind eye to the violence.
“Settler terrorists” were carrying out “ethnic cleansing”
The British government’s position has faced criticism from some British-Israeli Jews, including Rabbi Leo Dee, who lives in the West Bank settlement of Efrat.
Dee, whose wife, Lucy, and daughters, Maia and Rina, were killed by Palestinian militants while travelling through the Jordan Valley in 2023, has criticised Britain’s settlement sanctions as unfairly targeting Jewish Israelis.
In an open letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Dee accused the government of “hypocrisy” over its decision to impose sanctions on Israeli settlements while not imposing similar measures on the Palestinian Authority.
“You insist that you are not against Israelis. Yet you are prepared to single out Jewish Israelis like me for economic punishment.”
“That is the hypocrisy I find so difficult to accept.”
Dee also criticised Britain’s approach to Palestinian violence, arguing that the Palestinian Authority had previously operated a system that financially rewarded prisoners and families of Palestinians killed while carrying out attacks.
“For decades, Palestinian terrorism has killed thousands of innocent Israelis, like my wife and daughters, while the Palestinian Authority has operated a system financially rewarding prisoners and the families of those killed carrying out attacks partially funded by the UK.”
“Yet your moral outrage is directed not at those institutions, but at Jewish businesses in Judea and Samaria.”
The Palestinian Authority formally abolished its prisoner and “martyrs” payment system in 2025 and replaced it with a needs-based welfare scheme.
Israel and others have nevertheless alleged that payments to prisoners and families of Palestinians killed while carrying out attacks have continued through alternative mechanisms, a claim disputed by the Palestinian Authority.
Meanwhile, Miliband said the Palestinian Authority also had responsibilities in advancing the two-state solution and called on it to accelerate reforms.
“Accelerate reform”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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