Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of imposing sanctions on any British company operating in the illegal settlement activity in the West Bank.

We are deeply concerned by the levels of settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank and continue to urge the Government of Israel to stop settlement expansion and take action to hold violence to account. Settlements are illegal under international law.

On 20 May the UK imposed sanctions on three individuals, two illegal settler outposts and two organisations supporting violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. On 10 June the UK, acting alongside partners Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway, imposed sanctions on Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in their personal capacity, in response to their repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

The UK does not recognise the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including Israeli settlements, as part of Israel. Goods imported from the settlements are therefore not entitled to benefit from trade preferences under the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement. The UK also supports accurate labelling of settlement goods, so as not to mislead the consumer.

Sanctions can be used to achieve a range of foreign and security policy objectives. We use sanctions when they complement other tools as part of a wider strategy.  It would not be appropriate to speculate about future sanctions designations as to do so could reduce their impact. We have been clear that we keep these issues under close review.