(Aug. 29, 2026 \/ JNS)\n <\/p>\n
Ejecting representatives of the U.K. or of other countries from the U.S.-led International Gaza Support Center in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat would undermine efforts to improve Gaza\u2019s future, the British embassy in Israel tweeted on Friday.<\/p>\n
Reports emerged over the past week that Israel was planning to evict British personnel from the multinational hub, which is meant to oversee post-war Gaza stabilization efforts. The Israeli plans come in response to the British government\u2019s intention to impose \u201crobust\u201d sanctions targeting Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, in connection with Israel\u2019s planned development of the E1<\/a> area in Ma\u2019aleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.K. is committed to the implementation of the 20-Point Plan in Gaza<\/a> and playing our part in improving the situation on the ground, at the request of the United States and the Board of Peace,\u201d the embassy added, referring to the original Trump administration\u2019s peace plan for Gaza, advanced alongside the hostage-terrorist swap agreement that took effect from January to March 2025.<\/p>\n And because of that commitment to Gaza’s future, we continue to work at IGSC with the US, Israel, international partners and UN agencies in support of UNSCR 2803. Removing the UK or other partners would undermine these shared efforts.<\/p>\n (2\/4)<\/p>\n \u2014 UK in Israel \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 (@ukinisrael) August 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar said that the Jewish state was evicting<\/a> the Dutch from the IGSC (previously known as the Civil-Military Coordination Center).<\/p>\n Israel is responding to \u201ca series of anti-Israel measures taken by the Dutch government,\u201d specifically a Dutch law set to take effect next month that will ban trade of products made in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, Sa\u2019ar said.<\/p>\n The Netherlands is joining other European nations, including Belgium, Ireland and Spain, in restricting trade with Jewish communities in those areas.<\/p>\n Israel long ago annexed eastern Jerusalem and extended Israeli law to the Golan Heights after liberating them in a defensive war in 1967.<\/p>\n Sa\u2019ar gave Dutch representatives at the center a week to depart Israel, and the expulsion from the center took effect immediately, he said.<\/p>\n The Times of London reported on Tuesday that Britain\u2019s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, wants to take a stronger position on Israel than his predecessor, Keir Starmer, according to a government source who was not identified by name.<\/p>\n The source expected that a trade ban, as well as sanctions on individuals, will be implemented.<\/p>\n More than 140 Labour MPs, comprising roughly a third of the party, wrote an open letter<\/a> to U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper in June calling to expand the sanctions regime on Israel in response to Jerusalem\u2019s decision to approve construction in E1, connecting the capital to the developed part of Ma\u2019ale Adumim.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe ending trade with settlements is a vital next step and urge you to initiate proceedings to put such a ban into place as soon as possible,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n Other Labour Party legislators, however, expressed opposition to the letter.<\/p>\n