Over 100 ex-diplomats urge France, UK to sanction Israel over Palestine

Over 100 former French and British diplomats have penned an open letter urging their governments to jointly sanction Israel. Published in Le Monde, the letter calls for a ban on arms transfers and a freeze on EU-Israel and UK-Israel trade agreements. The diplomats argue that Israeli policy in occupied Palestinian territory, including house demolitions and settler violence, amounts to ethnic cleansing and threatens the possibility of a Palestinian state. They contend that international bodies' language supports these claims, and that Israel is no longer perceived as a genuine democracy. The letter cites Israel's ongoing actions in Gaza and its renewed settlement expansion in the West Bank as immediate triggers for their demands.

Over 100 former British and French diplomats have sent a joint letter to French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, urging immediate action regarding the situation in Palestine. The diplomats accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing and warn that the world no longer views it as a democracy. They call for measures including suspending trade and arms sales agreements, insisting on unrestricted aid access to Gaza, banning trade with settlements, and making it an offense for citizens to buy property on Palestinian land. The letter argues that Britain and France have a responsibility to ensure equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians and to safeguard Palestinian self-determination. This action follows recent condemnation by the UK and France of Israeli settlement construction tenders.