Ed Miliband has said that Israeli settlers are committing “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in parts of the West Bank.
Speaking in the House of Commons today (8 September), the foreign secretary said that the government’s argument is “not with the people of Israel, with whom the UK has unshakeable bonds”.
“Our argument is with the conduct of its government,” he said.
He highlighted the Israeli settlements in the West Bank that have been deemed illegal by international law.
Miliband pointed out how “more settlements have been approved under the four years of this Israeli government than in the previous 20 years”.
He added: “Ethnic cleansing is defined by the UN as ‘a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas’.
“The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank – perpetrated by settler terrorists.
“And all too often, the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians.”
In a video statement on social media, Miliband said he sees “no contradiction” between the sanctions announced by the government and its support for the security of the state of Israel.
It comes as Israel’s minister for national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said that the Falklands are “Argentine territory under occupation” and called for “sanctions” against Britain following reports yesterday of Miliband’s anticipated condemnation of Israel’s government.
“It’s time for the State of Israel to publicly recognise that the Malvinas Islands are Argentine territory under occupation, which the British violently steal from the Argentine people”, Ben-Gvir wrote on social media.
“The British are not content with merely occupying the territory; they also carry out oil drilling there and steal the money from the Argentine people”, the Israeli minister wrote.
“I call upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognise Argentina’s sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and to impose sanctions on Great Britain as long as the occupation continues”, he added