Britain plans tougher stance on Israel and Gaza aid

Britain is preparing what Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has described as a "comprehensive reset" of UK policy towards Israel, including a planned ban on trade with Israeli settlements deemed unlawful under international law and tougher action over restrictions on aid entering Gaza.

The expected announcement would represent the most significant shift in UK-Israel relations since September 2024, when then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy withdrew the majority of Britain's arms export licences, says The Guardian.

Palestinian advocacy groups in Britain have said they are awaiting the final details of the policy before making a full assessment.

The planned measures have drawn criticism from the United States and Israel. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee criticised the proposed policy shift on social media, accusing Downing Street of being motivated by "Jew hatred" and saying "the Brits have lost it".

Huckabee's comments did not acknowledge that Miliband is Jewish.

The Israeli foreign ministry also rejected Miliband's concerns over restrictions on aid entering Gaza, saying the Foreign Secretary was ignoring facts and asserting that no medicines were being blocked from entering the territory.

Albanese calls for broader policy shift

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, welcomed the proposed trade ban as an "absolutely important" first step, but said Britain should go further to achieve what she described as a "true paradigm shift".

Albanese said any new British policy should be consistent with a 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, which declared Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territories unlawful.

She said the opinion imposed a legal obligation on states to refuse recognition or assistance in maintaining that presence, rather than leaving such action as a matter of political preference.

Albanese also warned against limiting the proposed trade restrictions to physical goods such as cosmetics and agricultural products, arguing that Israel could readily absorb the resulting economic losses.

She said a policy that banned trade in goods such as West Bank dates while continuing to license equipment used at checkpoints would amount to a "communication strategy" rather than a substantive change in policy.

She called on Britain to extend restrictions to services, progressively suspend arms licences and end intelligence cooperation with Israel. She also urged London to halt what she described as unexamined flights out of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

Calls for action over E1 settlement

Albanese also urged Britain to take action over the planned E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said the project is intended to "bury the idea of a Palestinian state".

Albanese acknowledged that London could not realistically halt the 27 October bidding calendar for the project, but called for sanctions against finance, insurance and construction companies seeking to fund or build it.

She also urged Britain to formally support South Africa's case before the International Court of Justice and back Nicaragua's filings against Germany, which allege that German arms sales to Israel make Berlin complicit in genocide.

Albanese further called on the British government to instruct domestic companies not to "overcomply" with US sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court prosecutor, judges and cooperating human rights groups.

She said those sanctions had unfairly frozen the bank accounts of individuals carrying out lawful judicial functions.