Britain has formally sanctioned two far-right Israeli ministers for their “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities”.
The UK will freeze the assets of Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, and impose travel bans.
The move will see Britain join Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway in imposing sanctions in a personal capacity on the pair.
The Foreign Office stressed this was in response to “their repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities”
It added that the UK has made clear in public and private to the Netanyahu government that Israel must cease expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank which undermine a future Palestinian state, clamp down on settler violence, and condemn inflammatory and extremist statements from both ministers.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy, in a joint statement with the foreign ministers from the other four nations, said: “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.”
They added: “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.”
Responding to the sanctions, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar branded it "outrageous.”
He told reporters that the Israeli government would hold a special meeting early next week to decide how to respond to the "unacceptable decision".
Mr Lammy had previously indicated the UK was preparing to impose sanctions over comments they made about Gaza, which he described as “monstrous”.
Mr Smotrich has campaigned against allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying he would allow “not even a grain of wheat” to enter the beseiged warzone.
Mr Ben-Gvir earlier this year said “there is no need to bring in aid [to Gaza]. They have enough”. He branded the recent resumption of aid deliveries as a “serious and grave mistake”.
The sanctions mean the ministers will be banned from entering Britain and will ban any financial institutions based in the UK from dealing with them.
They are similar to the sanctions which the UK has imposed on Russia figures linked to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Mr Smotrich and Mr Ben-Gvir both belong to right wing parties which help to prop up Mr Netanyahu's fragile coalition government.
The sanctions come after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer joined Emmanuel Macron, France’s President, and Mark Carney, Canada’s PM, in condemning Israel’s “egregious” actions in Gaza following the October 7 2023 Hamas attack, which saw 1,200 people in Israel killed and 251 taken hostage.
That sparked an angry response for Israel’s Prime Minister, Bejamin Netanyahu, who accused the leaders of being “on the wrong side of humanity” and “on the wrong side of history”.
Britain and France hit back, rejecting the Israeli PM’s claims.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has brought the deaths of more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities in the Hamas-run strip, and left a population of more than 2 million people largely displaced.
Britain, like other, European countries, has been ramping up the pressure on Netanyahu's government to end the blockade on aid into Gaza, where international experts have warned that famine is imminent.
London last month suspended free trade talks with Israel for pursuing "egregious policies" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, summoned its ambassador, and announced further sanctions against West Bank settlers.
Mr Lammy, who called Israel's recent offensive " a dark new phase in this conflict," has previously condemned comments by Smotrich on the possible cleansing and destruction of Gaza and relocation of its residents to third countries.
Lord Cameron has previously told how when he was Foreign Secretary in Rishi Sunak’s government he considered sanctioning Mr Ben-Gvir, and Mr Smotrich.
