The US has condemned the UK’s decision to sanction two Israeli ministers over “egregious abuses” of human rights in Gaza.
Donald Trump’s secretary of state Marco Rubio said that the travel ban and asset freeze imposed on Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich “do not advance US-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire” and called for the measures to be reversed.
The UK is taking the action alongside Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway. Mr Rubio said that the US “stands shoulder-to-shoulder” with Israel.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Tuesday that the ministers had been “inciting violence against Palestinian people for months and months and months, they have been encouraging egregious abuses of human rights”.
In a post on X, Mr Rubio said that the “United States condemns the sanctions imposed by the governments of United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, and Australia on two sitting members of the Israeli cabinet. These sanctions do not advance US-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all hostages home, and end the war.”
The United States condemns the sanctions imposed by the governments of United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, and Australia on two sitting members of the Israeli cabinet. These sanctions do not advance U.S.-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all hostages home, and…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) June 10, 2025
He went on to say that America reminds “our partners not to forget who the real enemy is”.
“The United States urges the reversal of the sanctions and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel.”
The sanctions against Israel’s security and finance ministers were announced on Tuesday. Mr Smotrich and Mr Ben-Gvir both belong to right-wing parties which help to prop up Benjamin Netanyahu’s fragile coalition government, and both have been criticised for their hardline stance on Gaza.
Mr Smotrich has campaigned against allowing aid into Gaza, and also supported the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.
Meanwhile, Mr Ben-Gvir has called for Gaza’s people to be resettled from the territory.
In a joint statement with the foreign ministers of the other nations who also imposed sanctions, Mr Lammy said that the two sanctioned ministers had incited “serious abuses of Palestinian human rights” and described their actions as “not acceptable”.
The statement 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.”
Downing Street said that the two men had been sanctioned in their “personal capacities” and not “their ministries and departments”.
“As the Israeli ambassador to the UK has said in recent interviews, their statements in their ministerial capacities do not even represent government policy,” a Number 10 spokesman said.
The UK and other allies have upped pressure on Israel in recent weeks, amid aid shortages in Gaza and suggestions a large-scale offensive could be launched into the territory.
It has been reported that only scarce amounts of aid is making it into the hands of people, and the slow flow of food and medicines has prompted warnings of famine and starvation.
