Israeli Foreign Minister Says UK Sanctions on Ministers is 'Unacceptable'
A decision by Britain to sanction two Israeli ministers is "outrageous", Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday.
Saar told reporters that the government would hold a special meeting early next week to decide how to respond to the "unacceptable decision".
Britain and other international allies will formally sanction two far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, following their conduct over the war in Gaza, the Times newspaper reported earlier on Tuesday.
London will join Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other nations in freezing the assets and imposing travel bans on Israel's national security minister Ben-Gvir - a West Bank settler - and finance minister Smotrich, Reuters reported.
Britain, like other European countries, has been ramping up the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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.
Foreign minister David 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.
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