The British government has suspended trade negotiations on Tuesday with Israel, summoned its ambassador to London and imposed sanctions against settlers in the West Bank to protest against the extension of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip. In front of the House of Commons, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “horrified” by the situation in the Palestinian enclave, reiterating his calls to the high fire.
The previous day, in a common statement with French president Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the Labor Manager had threatened Israel “concrete actions” if the Benjamin Netanyahu government did not end its military operations and did not raise its restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza. More than 500 Palestinians died in Gaza in the last eight days, while Israel intends to take military control of the entire territory.
Sanctions against the holiday settlers
Faced with the communes, the British Foreign Minister David Lammy said the current offensive would not allow hostages to still in the hands of Hamas from his attacks on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel. He called at the end of the humanitarian block in Gaza and sentenced the “extremism” of certain stripes of the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu. “We cannot remain in our arms crossed in front of this new worsening. It is incompatible with the principles that govern our bilateral relationship,” he said.
The British suspension refers to a new commercial agreement discussed between the two countries that aims to replace the one that preexisted when the United Kingdom was part of the EU.
Questioned by the I24News channel, Dan Catarivas, the Director of International Relations for Israeli employers believes that the economic consequences will be limited.
The fear of an EU reaction
On the other hand, he says that he is much more concerned with the possible European sanctions mentioned in recent days by France.
“If the Israeli government continues to have a certain policy that will lead to commercial partners such as the European Union to take measures against Israel, this can have serious consequences, indicates. 30% of Israeli exports go to the European Union market and 35% of imports come from Europe.”
Paris asks the European Commission to examine whether Israel respects or not its association agreement with the European Union and “its obligations against human rights”, within the framework of its military offensive, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
Source: BFM TV
