Israel warns it will retaliate if UK imposes sanctions

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned the country will retaliate if the UK imposes sanctions over West Bank settlement expansion, after British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband pledged a "comprehensive reset" of policy on Israel and said the government would examine stopping UK companies from financing or constructing settlements. The warning comes after Israel opened tenders for approximately 1,200 settlement homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, a strategically sensitive location that international observers say would effectively divide the West Bank and isolate East Jerusalem, making a Palestinian state unviable.

Miliband called the E1 plans "illegal under international law" and "a crossing of a red line." UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also warned the development could "imperil or end" the two-state solution. All Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law. The Palestinian Authority supports a two-state arrangement, while Israel rejects it and Hamas opposes it due to its opposition to Israel's existence.