Britain moves toward sanctions over 1,200 West Bank homes
What's next: London plans broader measures in coming weeks as it presses Israel to halt the E1 settlement project.
Britain is preparing targeted sanctions against Israelis involved in settlement expansion in Gaza and the West Bank after Israel opened a tender for 1,200 homes in the E1 area of the West Bank. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the project threatened the viability of a two-state solution because E1 could split the West Bank from East Jerusalem. He said Britain had summoned Israel's top diplomat in London and demanded that Israel halt the E1 plans and withdraw the tender. Miliband also said the government would roll out a wider package of measures in the coming weeks, marking a tougher line from Prime Minister Andy Burnham's Labour government toward Benjamin Netanyahu's administration.