The United Kingdom has imposed additional sanctions against Israel, according to the British news outlet “The Independent.” The move comes in response to violence against Palestinians in Gaza, and the measures reportedly include travel and financial restrictions on a prominent leader of the Israeli settlers named Daniela Weiss and two other people. The sanctions also target illegal outposts and Israeli organizations that the UK Foreign Office alleged supported and promoted inciting violence against Palestinians living in the region.
The UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that Israeli ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely has been summoned to the Foreign Office, where government minister Hamish Falconer said he would tell her “the 11-week block on aid to Gaza has been cruel and indefensible”.
Addressing members of Parliament, Lammy claimed that he had personally witnessed the impact of settler violence, as well as the victims’ fear and the impunity of the aggressors.
“The sanctioning of Daniella Weiss and others today demonstrates our determination to hold extremist settlers to account as Palestinian communities suffer violence and intimidation at the hands of extremist settlers.
“The Israeli government has a responsibility to intervene and halt these aggressive actions. Their consistent failure to act is putting Palestinian communities and the two-state solution in peril.”
The move of sanctions against Israel came on the heels rtly after the UK, France, and Canada warned Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu his government would face sanctions if he failed to put an end to the expansion of military operations in the Gaza Strip and lift the blockade of humanitarian aid to the region.
