UK places
sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers over ‘monstrous’ Gaza comments
Itamar
Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich face travel bans and asset freezes as Australia,
Canada, New Zealand and Norway also impose measures
Patrick
Wintour Diplomatic editor
Tue 10 Jun
2025 15.42 BST
The UK has
been joined by Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in placing sanctions
on two Israeli government ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, over
their “monstrous” comments about Gaza, including plans to destroy the territory
and use violence to gain control of new settlements in the West Bank.
Ben-Gvir,
the security minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, and
Smotrich, the finance minister, will face travel bans and have their assets
frozen.
The UK
foreign secretary, David Lammy, along with the foreign ministers of Australia,
Canada, New Zealand and Norway said in a joint statement: “We are steadfastly
committed to the two-state solution and will continue to work with our partners
towards its implementation. It is the only way to guarantee security and
dignity for Israelis and Palestinians and ensure long-term stability in the
region, but it is imperilled by extremist settler violence and settlement
expansion.
“Itamar
Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and serious
abuses of Palestinian human rights. These actions are not acceptable. This is
why we have taken action now – to hold those responsible to account.
“We will
strive to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate release of the
remaining hostages by Hamas which can have no future role in the governance of
Gaza, a surge in aid and a path to a two-state solution.”
The move
comes as the UK and other western countries seek to increase pressure on
Israel’s government over the war in Gaza.
The US is
not expected to be party to the move.
The Israeli
government said it had been informed at lunchtime on Tuesday. Israel’s foreign
affairs minister, Gideon Sa’ar, said it was “outrageous that elected
representatives and members of the government are subjected to these kind of
measures”.
“I discussed
it earlier today with PM Netanyahu and we will hold a special government
meeting early next week to decide on our response to this unacceptable
decision,” he said.
The Foreign
Office said the sanctions were for the men’s repeated incitement of violence
against Palestinian civilians, effective immediately.
It said in a
statement: “The UK has made clear in public and private to the Netanyahu
government that Israel must cease expansion of illegal settlements which
undermine a future Palestinian state, clamp down on settler violence, and
condemn inflammatory and extremist statements from both individuals.
“The
measures announced by international partners today demonstrate the commitment
to ensure individuals are held accountable for encouraging and inciting human
rights abuses.”
Sanctions
announcements are typically kept under wraps on the basis that advance warning
gives those targeted the chance to remove their assets from the relevant
jurisdiction.
UK ministers
have had the option of imposing sanctions on the two ministers for more than a
year, and only a fortnight ago decided to hold back after needing more work to
secure international support for the move.
Smotrich has
approved the expansion of West Bank settlements and campaigned against
humanitarian aid in Gaza, saying in May that he would allow “not even a grain
of wheat” to enter the war zone.
He said on 6
May that “Gaza will be entirely destroyed, civilians will be sent to … the
south to a humanitarian zone without Hamas or terrorism, and from there they
will start to leave in great numbers to third countries”.
In remarks
condemned by Germany, one of Israel’s closest allies, Smotrich said last year
that the potential deaths of 2 million Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip
from hunger may be justifiable.
“We can’t,
in the current global reality, manage a war. Nobody will let us cause 2 million
civilians to die of hunger even though it might be justified and moral until
our hostages are returned,” he told a conference hosted by the Israel Hayom
newspaper.
Ben-Gvir
stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on 26 May and has called for the Muslim
world’s third-holiest site to be replaced with a synagogue. He has also
repeatedly called for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza. “We must
encourage emigration, encourage the voluntary emigration of the residents of
Gaza,” he said last year.
Lammy
described Smotrich’s comments as monstrous and repellant in the Commons a
fortnight ago, but he held back from placing sanctions on the two men. He
imposed sanctions on a small group of settlers and announced there would be no
further talks on an expanded trade deal with Israel.
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