The United Kingdom is expanding its sanctioning powers to freeze assets and target entities that facilitate illegal Israeli settlements, obstruct humanitarian aid, or detain individuals unlawfully. The legislation introducing a global human rights and international humanitarian law sanctions regime adds three new grounds to the existing 2020 framework.
These are serious violations of international humanitarian law, obstruction of humanitarian aid, and serious violations of the right to liberty and security. Unlawful settlements will be covered under a breach of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions.
The Israeli government closed the British consulate last week, prompting the UK to withdraw 21 diplomats and reduce the consulate to a mission. The proposed powers extend the reach of the government beyond direct perpetrators to those who facilitate, encourage, promote, or support such conduct, finance it, provide goods or technology, conceal evidence, or benefit from it. Banks and commercial entities could also fall within this scope, as sanctions can be imposed based on reasonable grounds to suspect involvement.
The proposed measures include freezing assets and prohibiting the provision of funds or economic resources, travel bans, and director disqualifications. A new expedited procedure allows ministers to mirror sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States, Canada, or Australia on up to 112 days, while a separate UK case is prepared.
The new sanctions regime comes into force on Thursday, but will require the approval of MPs and members of the House of Lords within 28 days. Foreign Secretary David Lammy is pushing forward these measures as the Israeli government has promised to proceed with the E1 settlement, which includes 1,234 homes on the West Bank.
The deadline for the E1 is 19 October, but the Israeli Land Authority has confirmed that the bid box will not be opened and bids will not be considered before 19 November, which is after the Israeli elections on 27 October. The British-Palestinian project has stated that the delay "does not remove the need to deter taking on commitments now, as the bidders and their supporters are committing on 19 October, and the contracts may still be signed before the new Israeli government is formed".
The organisation welcomed the addition of the right to liberty and security to the new laws, stating that this opens the way for sanctions against arbitrary or unlawful detention, including the detention of Palestinian children, and against those responsible or who facilitate it. Save the Children estimated in November 2023 that 10,000 Palestinian children had passed through Israeli military detention over the past 20 years. The UN report on children and armed conflict in 2026 confirmed that Israeli forces detained 981 Palestinian children in 2025, and 180 of them remained in administrative detention at the end of the year without charge or trial.
The UK has previously applied sanctions for restricting humanitarian aid in Sudan and South Sudan, but this is the first time that this general power has been applied within a new global regime involving Israel. Refusal of permits or blocking of convoys will be sufficient grounds for sanctions, without the need for the disruption to constitute a formal breach of international humanitarian law.
