UK PAUSES FREE TRADE AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS WITH ISRAEL

Tue 20 May 2025:

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has announced a pause in trade deal negotiations with Israel and summoned Israel’s ambassador over its expansion of its military assault on Gaza.

Lammy said Israel’s conduct in its war on Gaza and the government’s support for illegal settlements is “damaging our relationship with your government”.

“I have seen for myself the consequences of settler violence, the fear of its victims, the impunity of its perpetrators. Today we are demonstrating again that we will continue to act against those that are carrying out heinous abuses of human rights,” Lammy told parliament as he announced sanctions on three people and four entities in the occupied West Bank.

The foreign secretary urged Netanyahu to return to a ceasefire to ease the suffering of people in the conflict. “The world is judging. History will judge them [Israel],” Lammy added.

“Blocking aid, expanding the war, dismissing the concerns of your friends and partners – this is indefensible, and it must stop,” he said, reiterating that the two-state solution remains the “only framework for a just and lasting peace”.

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“While the UK government remains committed to the existing trade agreement in force, it is not possible to advance discussions on a new, upgraded FTA with a Netanyahu government that is pursuing egregious policies in the West Bank and Gaza,” a government press release read.

The pause comes as Lammy announced sanctions on settler organisations and activists, a day after Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the French and Canadian leaders threatened sanctions on Israel due to its actions in Gaza.

Moreover, British Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer has also summoned Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely over the expansion of military operations in Gaza.

UK ‘horrified’ by Israeli escalation, to outline response today: Starmer

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he and his French and Canadian counterparts are “horrified” by Israel’s escalation in Gaza, a day after the three countries released a joint statement threatening to issue sanctions against Israel.

“We repeat our demand for a ceasefire as the only way to free the hostages, we repeat our opposition to settlements in the West Bank, and we repeat our demand to massively scale up humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” Starmer told parliament.

The prime minister added that Foreign Secretary David Lammy would later today outline Britain’s “response in detail”.

“We must coordinate our response because this war has gone on for far too long,” he said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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