Israel has ordered the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem to close within 30 days. The information was reported Wednesday by Israel’s state broadcaster Kan.
According to the report, the accreditation of British diplomats working there will be revoked once the 30-day deadline passes.
The move came shortly after the U.K. announced a ban on imports of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and sanctions against companies and individuals involved in settlement expansion. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband made the announcement of these sanctions.
Speaking in the British Parliament’s House of Commons on Tuesday, Miliband said the U.K. would ban imports of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Sanctions would also be imposed on companies and individuals supporting settlement expansion. Additional sanctions would be imposed on extremist Israeli settlers accused of supporting or inciting violence against Palestinians.
He also said the U.K. would not issue new licenses for arms exports that directly support the Israeli occupation, while the current suspension of 30 arms export licenses would remain in effect.
Miliband also remarked that the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians was ongoing in the occupied West Bank at the hands of Israeli “settler terrorists.”