The foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement on September 8, 2026, declaring that Israeli government actions in the West Bank are undermining prospects for a two-state solution. The document pointed to rapidly deteriorating conditions marked by unprecedented settler violence and settlement expansion, including the decision to publish tenders for the E1 project. According to the statement published on the UK government website, the 12 nations remain unequivocally committed to a two-state solution based on relevant UN Security Council resolutions that would allow Israel and a sovereign Palestinian state to coexist in peace and security.
The statement confirmed the countries’ intention to introduce or support restrictions on trade in goods with settlements considered illegal under international law, in line with their national procedures. In this context the UK, France and Canada welcomed prior steps taken by Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium and announced they would advance their own national measures to ban such trade. A separate joint statement by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reiterated that settlements pose a direct threat to peace and pledged targeted actions against those who facilitate or profit from them.
Burnham, Macron and Carney stated that a two-state solution is critical for peace, stability and security in the Middle East and beyond, according to their announcement carried by Reuters. «Settlements are illegal under international law,» they noted while announcing plans to ban imports of goods from settlements and enforce additional measures. The three leaders also expressed a desire for continued partnership with Israel alongside their support for a safe and secure Palestinian state.
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told parliament that Britain now considers the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory unlawful, a position aligned with an International Court of Justice conclusion, the UK government release said. Miliband added that the UK would use its human rights sanctions regime against several extremist settlers who incited violence against Palestinian communities. In response Israel announced it would close the British consulate in East Jerusalem, Reuters reported on the same day.
A Guardian article citing UN figures indicated more than 1,500 incidents of settler violence occurred in the West Bank this year. The Israeli government has approved 104 new settlements since December 2022, according to data referenced in multiple reports including from The New York Times. These trends prompted the coordinated measures aimed at protecting the viability of a negotiated two-state outcome, the joint ministerial statement concluded.
The 12 nations anchored their position in principles from the New York Declaration adopted one year earlier, the foreign ministers’ document showed. They stressed the need to act before further damage occurs to the possibility of Israel and Palestine living side by side within secure borders. The UK government separately detailed that its import ban on settlement goods would take six to nine months to implement while also targeting services such as construction and financing linked to expansion.
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