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Washington\u2019s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, warned that the US could take retaliatory action over trade.However, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Washington would \u201cobviously\u201d not follow the UK\u2019s course of action, and did not want to see the West Bank destabilised, but declined to comment further. Burnham had briefed Donald Trump on the plan in advance.In his statement to parliament, Miliband said the UK government would enact:\n \n An import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories and a new ban for arms licences and other exports that \u201cmaterially contribute to the occupation\u201d.\n \n A comprehensive sanctions regime against providing services such as construction or financing for Israeli settlements and a ban on advertising them in the UK.\n \n Personal sanctions against key individuals accused of promoting settler violence.\n \n A new ban for arms licences and other exports that \u201cmaterially contribute to the occupation\u201d.\nUK foreign secretary announces sanctions on trade with Israeli West Bank settlements \u2013 videoThe foreign secretary said the UK\u2019s actions would show that \u201cBritain is not silent in the face of deep injustice, and nor is it powerless\u201d. In an emotional statement, he described the agony he had heard from Palestinians in the West Bank whose homes had been destroyed and from doctors in Gaza who had seen children dying waiting for medical treatment.The UK\u2019s actions have been made increasingly urgent by Israel\u2019s plans to expand the E1 settlement project east of Jerusalem, which could in effect cut off the north from the south of the West Bank, threatening the viability of any future Palestinian state.Ministers expect the legislation to enforce the trade ban and sanctions to be in place within nine months, although they could be subject to legal challenge, which would result in a delay.Graph of demolitions in the West Bank since 2023Miliband stopped short of describing Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza as a genocide, as some on the left have demanded, saying the UK would wait for the determination of the international courts, but that there was evidence of \u201cwar crimes\u201d.Speaking in the Commons, he said: \u201cThe British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists.\u201cAll 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.\u201cI recognise the gravity of saying this, but the truth is the least the people who face such suffering deserve. And it should be the prelude to justice.\u201dGraph of Palestinian civilian killings in West Bank since 2020Miliband suggested that Keir Starmer had been reluctant to take action against West Bank settlers during his time as prime minister. \u201cI\u2019ll say very bluntly we should have acted earlier. And it has taken the new prime minister to come in and recognise the gravity of the situation,\u201d he told MPs.Burnham, who apologised for Labour\u2019s stance on Gaza when he became prime minister, attempting to shore up votes on the party\u2019s progressive flank, also said the previous government had been too slow to act.Writing in the Guardian , he said: \u201cWe have called for years for a two-state solution in the Middle East, but we must recognise that those words are meaningless unless we back them up with action. For too long, we have been hesitant to act, fearful of being accused of being anti-Israel.\u201dMiliband said he was taking the action as foreign secretary but also as a \u201cproud British Jew\u201d with relatives who had found safety in Israel after the Holocaust. \u201cI am proud of my Jewishness and unwavering in my support for the state of Israel,\u201d he said.\u201cAnd there is absolutely no contradiction between this and my support for the state of Palestine. Indeed, quite the opposite. The two-state solution is based on an explicit belief that the only route to security for both peoples is to live side by side in peaceful coexistence with freedom, security and self-determination.\u201dThe foreign secretary said that to respond to threats against Jews around the world, the UK would also impose sanctions on Lebanese Hezbollah\u2019s financing arm, Al-Qard al-Hassan, and reimpose major economic sanctions on Iran in line with the EU and US.The action marked the beginning of a new approach towards Israel and Palestine, he said, one that not only condemned but took action. \u201cOur argument is not with the people of Israel, with whom the UK has unshakeable bonds. Our argument is with the conduct of its government.\u201dBurnham wrote that the British Jewish community must not be blamed for the actions of the Israeli government. \u201c[It] is wrong, plain and simple. And it is antisemitism, plain and simple,\u201d he said.\u201cI met with the representatives of the Jewish community just last week. I know the fear they live with day by day. My government will stop at nothing to ensure they are safe and to stamp out antisemitism in every part of our society.\u201dThe shadow foreign secretary, Tom Tugendhat, said \u201cillegal settlements are wrong\u201d but suggested that Miliband was introducing policies the Foreign Office did not believe would work. Whitehall insiders denied this was the case.The senior Conservative MP also said there was a risk of harming Palestinians who worked in the West Bank and that \u201cthe economies of Palestine and Israel were too interconnected\u201d for a ban on goods for illegal settlements to work.But the veteran Tory MP Edward Leigh gave full backing to the sanctions. \u201cI am proud to say as the longest serving member of the Conservative Friends of Israel that I absolutely and fully support what he is doing today because it is about standing up for freedom, for morality and justice for all people in this world,\u201d he said.The move forms part of a broader attempt by Burnham\u2019s government to reset British policy towards Israel, in part to regain the trust among Muslim and progressive voters in the UK they lost in the early days of the conflict.It was overwhelmingly welcomed by Labour MPs, many of whom have been struggling with the issue in their constituencies, although some sounded a note of caution about the potential impact on local Jewish communities.Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said: \u201cAt last! 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