Skip to main content
Live Blog Update| Israel's genocide in Gaza

Britain considering putting sanctions on Israeli ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he is "looking at" sanctioning Israel's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, as well as the national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday in response to a question by Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, Starmer said comments made by the two ministers were "abhorrent" and that the government is "looking at" sanctioning them.

Davey said that Smotrich "said that starving two million people in Gaza might be justified and moral". He added that Ben Gvir "called settlers who killed a 19-year-old in the West Bank heroes", before asking whether the government will sanction the ministers.

Starmer replied: "We are looking at that, because they are abhorrent comments, as he [Davey] rightly says, along with other really concerning activity in the West Bank, but also across the region."

On Wednesday morning, Labour MP Emily Thornberry labelled Ben Gvir and Smotrich "racist".

Read more: Britain considering putting sanctions on Israeli ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich

david lammy
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on the theme of "Leadership for Peace" on 25 September (AFP)