A British government minister confirmed that his country would announce later on Tuesday a trade ban on goods imported from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as part of London\u2019s efforts to support a two-state solution.<\/p>\n
British Foreign Secretary \u201cEd Miliband\u201d said last week, six weeks after taking office, that he was considering reshaping his country\u2019s policy toward Israel. He is scheduled to make a statement to the House of Commons regarding the anticipated trade restrictions.<\/p>\n
In the same context, new British Prime Minister \u201cAndy Burnham,\u201d who also took office in July, spoke with U.S. President \u201cDonald Trump\u201d on Monday, stressing the importance of a two-state solution, in a move believed to be related to the anticipated sanctions.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiliband\u201d said last week that the \u201cE1\u201d settlement project in the occupied West Bank would extend across land that Palestinians claim for the establishment of their state, putting the two-state solution at risk.<\/p>\n
In response to a question about how the trade ban would be implemented, British Pensions Minister \u201cPat McFadden\u201d provided no details, saying only in an interview with \u201cTimes Radio\u201d that the Foreign Secretary would make a statement to Parliament later on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cMcFadden\u201d added that the expansion of settlement activity over the past weeks and months had made the danger more urgent.<\/p>\n
The United Nations and most governments, including Britain, consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, and also consider the West Bank to be territory under Israeli military occupation.<\/p>\n
Israel, meanwhile, considers the territories \u201cdisputed\u201d rather than occupied, and maintains that Jews have a historic right to them.<\/p>\n
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