Arab, Muslim nations welcome UK-led sanctions on Israeli settlements

Placards set up by a small group of people holding an anti-Israel demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament in central London. [Henry Nichols, AFP]

More than half a dozen Arab and Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, on Wednesday welcomed UK-led sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, urging other countries to take similar steps.

The foreign ministers of eight countries in a statement, said they "welcome the decision of the Government of the United Kingdom to ban the import of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory".

The countries- Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt also hailed other Western countries for announcing their intention to restrict trade with Israeli settlements.

It came after Britain, France and Canada on Tuesday joined nine other European countries in issuing a joint statement saying they planned to introduce or support restrictions on trade with Israeli settlements.

The three Western allies revealed the trade curbs in response to Israel's West Bank settlements policy and reports of increasing attacks by settlers there against Palestinians, with a UK minister accusing Israel of turning a blind eye to the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians there.

The moves prompted a furious Israel to unveil immediate counter-measures targeting Britain.

Later Tuesday, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian leader Mark Carney warned in another joint declaration that the settlements "pose a direct and urgent threat" to a two-state solution to the conflict.