The UAE and seven other Arab and Muslim countries have welcomed the UK government’s decision to ban imports of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and impose sanctions on services linked to the settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In response to the UK's decision, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country will close the UK consulate in East Jerusalem. The move is a major escalation of the diplomatic breakdown between Israel and some of its most important Western allies.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, the foreign ministers of the UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia said they hoped the UK's measures would encourage other countries to take similar steps in line with international law and hold accountable organisations and individuals involved in illegal settlement activities.
The ministers also welcomed a joint statement by the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK, which expressed an intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods from settlements deemed illegal under international law.
They urged the international community to build on these measures and adopt concrete steps to end activities that support or sustain Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The ministers said the measures were consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, including UN Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted in 2016, as well as the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion of July 2024.
They reiterated calls for Israel to rescind measures related to settlement activities and other steps aimed at changing the geographic and demographic character of the occupied Palestinian territory.
The ministers also stressed that Gaza is an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territory and called for the full and immediate implementation of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, saying it would help ensure security and stability, address humanitarian needs, facilitate reconstruction and recovery and lay the foundations for lasting peace.
They said the only viable path to a just, lasting and comprehensive peace was a two-state solution, with an independent, sovereign, contiguous and viable Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions.
