Owaisi Urges PM Modi to Ban Imports from Israeli West Bank Settlements

<p>AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban imports of goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, urging India to act alongside a growing bloc of nations that have backed such restrictions.</p>
<p>Posting on X on Thursday, Owaisi tagged Modi directly and said the Indian government should take similar action following the United Kingdom's decision to prohibit imports from Israeli settlements. He said the British move came against the backdrop of continued settlement expansion and increasing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.</p>
<p>"The Indian government should also take this step as soon as possible," Owaisi said, arguing that such a decision would be significant in opposing what he described as Israel's "growing oppression".</p>
<p>He noted that 11 other countries were also set to introduce or support restrictions on trade involving goods from Israeli settlements.</p>
<p>UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced the measures in Parliament on Tuesday, saying Britain would prohibit imports of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. He said France and Canada would also announce similar restrictions, while Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Sweden had expressed support for further measures.</p>
<p>Miliband also announced plans for a comprehensive sanctions regime, saying the UK needed to move beyond condemning settlement expansion and take concrete action. "Today we refuse to be bystanders to further suffering and to the destruction of the two-state solution," he told the House of Commons.</p>
<p>In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK said they intended to introduce national measures and or support European restrictions on trade in goods from settlements deemed illegal under international law. The ministers said Israel's actions in the West Bank were undermining the prospects of a two-state solution.</p>
<p>Israel rejected the British government's position and announced retaliatory steps. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described Miliband's statements as "outrageous lies" and said Israel would close Britain's consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, which is accredited to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.</p>
<p>Saar further said the UK would lose its participation in the US-led coordination mission for Gaza and that British training of Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank would be stopped. He added that some elected UK officials and other nationals would be barred from entering Israel.</p>
<p>Saar accused the British Labour government of systematically acting against Israel and said the measures were a response to what he called its "hostile actions".</p>