UK Halts New Trade Talks with Israel Over Gaza War, Settler Violence
The United Kingdom has suspended its negotiations for a new free-trade agreement with Israel, citing concerns over Israel’s military operations in Gaza and escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera reports.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament on Tuesday that London would also impose additional sanctions on three Israeli individuals, two illegal settler outposts, and two organizations accused of supporting attacks against Palestinians. The Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, was summoned to the Foreign Office to receive a formal protest.
Lammy said existing UK-Israel trade arrangements remain in place but that no further talks will proceed while “egregious policies” continue in Gaza and the West Bank. He also criticized Israel’s prolonged blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza and said Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer would inform Hotovely that the 11-week restriction on aid was “cruel and indefensible.”
Israeli officials denounced the UK’s move, calling the new sanctions “unjustified and regrettable” and noting that free-trade negotiations had already stalled.
The UK announcement came shortly after the European Union agreed to review its own association agreement with Israel to assess possible breaches of the pact’s human-rights clause. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed that a strong majority of EU foreign ministers backed the review. The EU has also drafted sanctions against violent settlers, though one member state has blocked their adoption.
At home, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced criticism from Labour MPs and pro-Palestine demonstrators for what they describe as insufficient action to curb Israel’s offensive. Labour MP Zarah Sultana accused the government of complicity in a “campaign of collective punishment,” while former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for an immediate end to UK-Israel military cooperation. Although the UK suspended some arms export licences last year, it exempted components for the F-35 fighter-jet programme and approved more than £127 million in additional military exports to Israel between October and December 2024. A High Court case challenging the government’s arms-export policy is now under way.
In Brussels, Kallas acknowledged that the limited aid allowed into Gaza was “a drop in the ocean,” urging Israel to permit large-scale humanitarian deliveries without obstruction.
