Rhino: Agencies – Britain is considering imposing sanctions on Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over comments they made about civilians in Gaza and West Bank settlers, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday.
Starmer was responding to a question about comments by Smotrich that starving civilians in the Gaza Strip might be justified and by Ben-Gvir, who described perpetrators of settlement violence in the occupied West Bank as heroes. “We are looking into it because they are clearly repugnant comments,” the prime minister said.
The Starmer government has taken a tougher stance on Israel since its election, although it supports Israel’s right to self-defense.
It said it had suspended some arms export licenses to Israel, saying there were concerns that certain equipment could be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.
On Tuesday, it also announced new sanctions on Israeli settlement organizations that she said support violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.