Britain “looking at” sanctioning Israeli ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich

London (Quds News Network)- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that he is “looking at” sanctioning Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir over their racist remarks against Palestinians.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday Liberal Democrat leader Ed 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.

In response, Davey said that 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 labeled Ben Gvir and Smotrich “racist”.

This comes after David Cameron, the foreign secretary under the previous Conservative government, said on Tuesday that he had planned to impose sanctions on them.

But he said he stopped short of doing so because of the general election in July.

In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday morning, Cameron said: “Smotrich and Gvir had said things like encouraging people to stop aid convoys getting into Gaza and encouraging extreme settlers in the West Bank with the appalling things they have been carrying out.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has announced fresh sanctions against three Israeli settler outposts and four organizations he said are responsible for “heinous abuses of human rights” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Tirzah Valley Farm Outpost, Meitarim Outpost and Shuvi Eretz Outpost are the settlements targeted.

Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.

The UK has also placed sanctions on Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva, a religious school in the West Bank accused of encouraging attacks on Palestinians; Hashomer Yosh, which provides volunteers for settlement outposts; Torat Lechima, a charity providing financial support to settlements; and construction company Amana.

Lammy added: “When I went to the West Bank earlier this year, on one of my first trips as foreign secretary, I met with Palestinians whose communities have suffered horrific violence at the hands of Israeli settlers.

“The inaction of the Israeli government has allowed an environment of impunity to flourish where settler violence has been allowed to increase unchecked,” he said.

“Settlers have shockingly even targeted schools and families with young children.”

Lammy called on the Israeli government to “crack down on settler violence and stop settler expansion on Palestinian land”.

In a BBC interview on Wednesday morning, Labour MP Emily Thornberry said the possibility of sanctions on the two ministers should be “under review”.

“We are sometimes overlooking what’s going on in the West Bank, where more than 700 people have been killed in the last year as well, and where settler violence has got much worse,” she said.

“I think the bottom and top of it is that even if you are responsible for the most hateful, violent, disgusting language, racist stuff which frankly these two [Smotrich and Ben Gvir] are – that isn’t really enough for you to get sanctioned.

“I think it’s got to be about action,” she added. “You’ve got to keep it under review.”

Thornberry added that “there are allegations against the security minister, that’s Ben Gvir, that he ordered Israeli police not to take actions against settlers who attack Palestinians, that he has told them not to protect aid convoys en route to Gaza.”

“Now if there’s evidence of that, then that seems to me to be the sort of thing that could result in sanctions.”

Ben-Gvir and Smotrich: History of inflammatory remarks

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, several Israeli leaders, including Ben-Gvir and Smorrich, have made inflammatory and racist remarks that reflect anti-Palestinian sentiments.

These statements highlight a longstanding pattern of discrimination, as Israeli officials have a long track record of expressing such views prior to the ongoing Israeli war. These remarks have only become more aggressive and hateful during the war.

The two ministers have called for starving Palestinians in Gaza and resettling the strip.

On August 11, Ben-Gvir said: “If we cut off their fuel, within a week they would be on their knees. And if we stop the [aid] trucks, within two weeks they would be on their knees. So why are we going to do a deal, especially such an irresponsible deal?”

“What nonsense, what a terrible mistake, a massive disaster. We can achieve total victory.”

On August 5, Smotrich suggested that starving the entire population of Gaza might be “justified and moral” in order to release the Israeli captives.

“We can’t, in the current global reality, manage a war. Nobody will let us cause two million civilians to die of hunger even though it might be justified and moral until our hostages are returned,” he said.

On June 7, Ben-Gvir stated: “In our opinion Israel should withhold fuel from Gaza and reduce the humanitarian aid that enters.”

On November 14, Smotrich stated: “I welcome the initiative of the voluntary emigration of Gaza Arabs to countries around the world.. This is the right humanitarian solution for the residents of Gaza and the entire region after 75 years of refugees, poverty and danger.”

He added: “The State of Israel will no longer be able to accept the existence of an independent entity in Gaza”.

On January 1, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich presented the migration of Palestinians as a solution for securing the stability necessary to allow Israelis in the south to return.

The war presents an “opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza,” Ben-Gvir said, calling such a policy “a correct, just, moral and humane solution.”

“We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing,” he said.

The “correct solution” is “to encourage the voluntary migration of Gaza’s residents to countries that will agree to take in the refugees,” Smotrich added, predicting that “Israel will permanently control the territory of the Gaza Strip,” including through the establishment of settlements.