Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has warned businesses and individuals thinking of bidding to build Israeli settlements in E1 that they could face UK sanctions, as the deadline for tenders for the controversial scheme passed on Monday.
The Labour Foreign Secretary said the Israeli government's decision to open tenders for settlement construction in E1 was "a direct threat to the prospect of a two-state solution" and had been widely condemned by the international community.
Ed Miliband: 'Legal and reputational consequences'
"I want to be very clear with those considering engaging in the tendering process: we have created new powers allowing us to sanction individuals and companies involved in the construction of illegal settlements such as E1," Ed Miliband said.
"We urge businesses and individuals not to proceed with bids for E1 construction tenders. They should be aware of legal and reputational consequences, including the risk of involving themselves in serious breaches of international law."
He said the government would not accept the continued displacement of Palestinians and the unlawful occupation, pointing to Labour's commitment to legislate to ban goods imported from illegal settlements and to act on services that finance or facilitate them.
"The British people do not want to be supporting the construction of illegal settlements," he added.
Settler violence condemned
The Foreign Secretary also condemned escalating settler violence in the West Bank, including recent attacks on officials from France, Belgium and Poland, a representative of the Catholic Church and a US journalist.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said attacks on diplomats and journalists in the West Bank were "completely unacceptable", adding: "Settler terrorism in the West Bank must end."
"We will not be bystanders in the destruction of the two-state solution," Ed Miliband said.
