The foreign secretary says the UK will "take action" against companies and individuals that provide services, such as construction or finance, for settlement expansion.

"You will face the full force of UK sanctions," he says, adding that the advertisement of illegal settlements will also be banned in the UK.

The target of these sanctions are the illegal settlements, not Israel, Miliband adds.

"I whole wholeheartedly oppose the boycott divestment sanctions, or BDS campaign," he adds.

Continuing to talk about settlements in the West Bank, Miliband turns to the UN's definition of ethnic cleansing.

He says the UK government "agrees" there is ethnic cleansing in areas of the West Bank.

"All too often" the Israeli government has turned a "blind eye" to this, he tells MPs.

"For a long time" the British government has said such settlements are illegal, he continues.

"Today I announce the official view of the British government is that the occupation is unlawful."

The UK will ban the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announces in the Commons.

We'll bring you more on this shortly.

Miliband says many have a "deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine".

He says there is a "deeply painful contrast" between the UK's "professed commitment" to a two-state solution, and the reality on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank.

The prime minister is right to say that the Labour government has not done enough in the face of what is happening on the ground, he says.

Today marks the beginning of a "new approach", he says, where the government "not only calls out injustice and suffering, but acts".

He makes clear that "our argument" is not with the people of Israel, but with the "conduct of its government", and says again that the UK seeks a two-state solution.

Miliband continues to reference a "rising" antisemitism including in the UK - citing the Heaton Park synagogue attack among others.

He says the everyday life of Jews is "deeply affected" and underlines children are having to go to school with security guards.

Antisemitism is a "scourge" and an "evil" he says, citing additional investment in community security measures.

Miliband says he is "proud" of his Jewishness and adds that his support for the state of Israel is not a "contradiction" in his support for Palestine.

Ed Miliband begins his speech by saying he is a "proud British Jew" and recalls "joyful" childhood memories of picking oranges as a child in his cousins' kibbutz.

The foreign secretary says his personal story, and those of thousands of British Jews, is one he says to those who question Israel's right to exist, adding: "You are wrong and we will call you out."

He said the attacks on 7 October make plain the grave threats that Israel faces, adding that the UK is sanctioning the Lebanese Hezbollah financing arm, Al-Qard al-Hassan.

Miliband adds that the UK is reimposing major economic sanctions on Iran, in line with the EU and US.

Image source, House of Commons

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has begun his statement in the Commons, during which the foreign secretary is expected to outline measures to restrict trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

We will bringing you live updates and you can watch live at the top of this page.

This move will go down well with large parts of the Labour Party membershippublished at 13:16 BST

13:16 BST

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

Image source, Downing Street

Andy Burnham's Labour Party has been clear that it wants to signal a change of approach on Israel.

It's one of the few issues on which the new prime minister, who took office in July, has been explicitly critical of his predecessor, Keir Starmer.

In the weeks before he entered Number 10, Burnham said "Labour's initial response to the treatment of Gaza caused huge hurt".

He said the party had "got it wrong" and that Starmer had been "too slow to call for a ceasefire".

Sir Keir's position did change - most notably when his government recognised Palestine as a state last September.

Some people within Labour see today's announcement as the logical next step. But last week the new Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described his approach to Israel as a "comprehensive reset".

The move is likely to go down well with large parts of the Labour Party membership, who will descend on Liverpool for the party's annual conference later this month.

There's been nervousness within Labour about losing votes to the Green Party, who have been more vocal on the issue since Zack Polanski took over as leader.

Polanski wants to contest a by-election in Sir Keir's old constituency next month, where Labour and the Greens are likely to go head-to-head.

This morning the cabinet minister Pat McFadden denied that today's announcement was about winning back voters who might have gone to the Greens.

But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Labour of "throwing British interests under the bus to win back Islamist and far left activist votes".

Image source, Getty Images

We're expecting to hear UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announce new sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank soon - you'll be able to watch live on this page.

While we wait, here's some reaction to the expected policy from other UK parties.

The Liberal Democrats' spokesperson for international development, Monica Harding, is pushing the government to go further. She says "strong rhetoric isn't enough".

The party previously called for a ban on "all UK trade and financial services linked to illegal Israeli settlements".

Speaking for Reform UK, Deputy Leader Richard Tice warns Miliband's move could "embolden antisemitic hate crimes in UK" - Labour MP Peter Prinsley made a similar point earlier - as well as damage the UK's international standing with the US and Israel.

"It is self destructive virtue signalling that will make us less safe," Tice writes on X.

Deputy leader of the Green Party, Mothin Ali, suggests the move is "too little, too late". Ali wants a two-way ban on arms trade as well as "comprehensive" sanctions.

For the Conservatives, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accuses the government of putting party politics "ahead of national security".

We heard from him earlier this morning, but now the Conservative MP adds on X: "Settlements should stop, but the way to do that is to work with European and US allies to change Israeli policy."

An Israeli court has rejected an attempt to freeze the tenders for development on the proposed E1 settlement east of Jerusalem.

In a statement issued by campaign groups Ir Amim, Bimkom, and Peace Now, it says the Jerusalem District Court rejected a request for an interim injunction to halt the tender for 1,234 housing units.

"While the court denied the request for an injunction, the petitions against the E1 plans still remain pending with proceedings expected to continue over the next few months," the statement reads.

Israel opened up tenders last month for the construction of settlement homes in the so-called E1 area, which Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described as "illegal under international law" in his first speech to Parliament.

Image source, Getty Images

Florida Congressman Randy Fine has warned the UK that sanctions could cost British businesses "billions of dollars".

Writing on X, he says Florida law "would ban any British company forced to comply [with the sanctions] from doing business with any state or local government in Florida".

He labels sanctions a "vanity project" and refers to Florida as "one of Britain’s largest trading partners".

"Florida has made it clear. Any company - or nation - that boycotts Israel is boycotted by Florida," he adds.

In separate comments, the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told the BBC he thought sanctions would "without a doubt" provoke a US reaction.

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, there has been a sharp rise in settler expansion across the West Bank in recent years.

Tzofim - pictured above - is one example. Recent analysis of satellite imagery by BBC Verify showed the construction of around 185 new buildings in the settlement since 2022.

The below slider shows how the area looked in 2021 compared to today.

Israel's national security minister has called on Benjamin Netanyahu to "close the British consulate in East Jerusalem".

Itamar Ben-Gvir says in a statement on X the consulate operates "openly on behalf of the Palestinian authority".

"This must be Israel's resolute response to British audacity," he adds.

The BBC's international editor, Jeremy Bowen, istaking part in a Q&A on the BBC News channel now. You can watch live above now.

Bowen will also appear on Radio 4's World at One later along with:

• David Henig, trade expert
• Nigel Tobias, executive director of the British Israel Chamber of Commerce and a member of Manchester's Jewish Representative Council
• Matthew Gould, who worked for the Foreign Office for many years and was British ambassador to Israel from 2010-15

As we've been reporting, the West Bank is an area west of the River Jordan which has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 war. Settlements there are illegal under international law.

Israel has built around 160 settlements housing 700,000 people in that time. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

Israel recently opened up tenders for the construction of around 1,200 new homes in a strategically important part of the West Bank, known as E1.

For decades, Israel had held off on plans to build in this location amid international pressure. The development would in effect divide the West Bank in two.

Settlement expansion has risen sharply since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022 - and after the start of the Gaza war, triggered by Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

Settler violence has risen as well, our Middle East correspondent reports. Since the beginning of 2025, the UN has recorded 316 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers, and more than 5,600 injured, to the end of July 2026.

Huckabee wrong about UK sanctions on Russia, China and North Koreapublished at 12:16 BST

12:16 BST

Image source, Reuters

By Anthony Reuben

Speaking to BBC News this morning about the expected government sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee asked: “If the UK is really interested in dealing with issues they feel like are wrong, where are the sanctions against North Korea, China, Russia?”

In fact, the UK has wide-ranging sanctions against Russia, North Korea and more limited ones against China - as well as sanctions against specific individuals and companies.

The sanctions on Russia , externalban UK exports of a wide range of goods and services including military items, energy-related goods and technology and certain financial services. There is also a ban on importing products such as energy and weapons.

The sanctions regime against North Korea, external bans UK companies from selling military technology, dual-use items such as night-vision goggles, helicopters, industrial machinery, or luxury goods for use there. There are also restrictions on some imports, including buying gold and precious metals from government officials.

And there is a “partial, external arms embargo” on China, external, which covers UK exports of military vehicles and aircraft, lethal weapons and “any equipment which might be used for internal repression”.

We are now seeing reports that Canada and France are also looking to announce similar trade bans on settlements in the West Bank today.

Israeli daily Haaretz reports that the bans would similarly cover products.

The BBC Is looking to confirm the reports.

The government's planned trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank carry "a real risk of increased chances of attacks on the British Jewish community", a Labour MP has said.

"We're coming up to what are called the High Holidays, these are the most significant religious days for Jews all over the world and there is a heightened sense of vulnerability in the British Jewish community right now..." Peter Prinsley, the vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, told Radio 4's Today programme earlier.

"You don't want to be a prophet of doom but we are worried about this," he adds. "My fear is that opponents of Israel won't distinguish between Israeli government policy, Zionistic political philosophy and British Jews."

"As far as they're concerned, the whole thing's the same," he says.

British Jewish community has warned about 'unintended consequences' of sanctionspublished at 11:30 BST

11:30 BST

Daniel Wittenberg
Senior field producer

Britain’s Jewish community is small but politically diverse.

According to the latest polling, a majority disapprove of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – and historically there has been some opposition to the expansion of West Bank settlements. But that does not mean there is a consensus within the community over how Britain should respond.

After a meeting with Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner in Downing Street last week, a number of organisations representing British Jews issued a joint statement expressing “significant concerns about the unintended consequences” of potential sanctions on Israeli settlements.

They warned that “broad, un-targeted” measures could place strain on the Jewish community’s connection to religious and cultural sites in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall.

Their main criticism was that sanctions could “give legitimacy to a wider boycott movement that marginalises and stigmatises British Jews”.

There are also some who support the measures. Around 1,000 British Jews signed an open letter in July backing a ban on trade with Israeli settlements, organised by the left-wing Jewish group, Yachad.

This debate takes place against the backdrop of a heightened threat of antisemitism, following the deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue last year, a spate of arson attacks targeting Jewish property, and the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green earlier this year.

This has prompted the UK government to ramp up policing, committing an extra £251 million over three years, with a particular focus on the festival period starting with Jewish New Year this weekend.

And for many British Jews, there is unease about what impact UK policy towards Israel could have on public attitudes towards Jews in Britain.

Image source, PA Media

Shortly before becoming prime minister in July, Andy Burnham apologised for Labour's initial response to Israel's military action in Gaza, saying the party "didn't get it right".

He also said more needed to be done to "ensure the Israeli government adheres to international law and to keep the prospect of a two-state solution alive".

Labour previously lost support from some of its left-wing backers over Keir Starmer's initial response to the Gaza war.

During the early weeks of the conflict, Starmer backed humanitarian pauses to help aid reach Gazans but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.

Burnham has since said "the UK was too slow to call for a ceasefire".

He has also voiced concerns about the proposed E1 settlement, saying in the Commons last week that it could "imperil" or "end" the two-state solution.