Israel considers expelling British officials from Gaza coordination center over 'anti-Israel measures’

Israel is considering the expulsion of British and other European representatives at the U.S.-led coordination center for Gaza, the Financial Times reports. 

The move comes in response to the recent criticism by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband of the offering of tenders in the E1 settlement area, and the UK government’s weighing of trade bans on Israeli products from Judea and Samaria. 

“The Israeli Government’s launch of tenders for the E1 settlement project is unacceptable and destructive. Britain will not stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution,” British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband wrote on 𝕏 after the publication of the tenders. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rejected Miliband’s criticism as “patronizing.” 

“The Jewish people have the right to live throughout the Land of Israel, just as the British have the right to live in London and throughout the United Kingdom,” Sa’ar said in a response on 𝕏. 

A report in The Telegraph earlier this week said that new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is preparing to announce a total ban on the import of Israeli goods from Judea and Samaria, as well as sanctions against “those who participate in illegal settlement expansion,” as part of an official UK response to the offering of tenders in the sensitive E1 area. 

Minister Sa’ar announced the expulsion of Dutch representatives from the Civil-Military Coordination Center earlier this week, after the Netherlands moved to boycott Israeli products from settlements in the disputed territories. 

That boycott will take effect in September. 

“Israel will not allow measures to be taken against it without a response,” Minister Sa’ar said. 

According to a report in the FT, two people familiar with the matter said that any move to expel additional international representatives from the International Gaza Support Center would require approval from the U.S.-led Board of Peace. 

However, this claim was disputed by a third party, who said that Israel retains the right to determine who remains in its territory as a sovereign nation. 

FT cited a Board of Peace official who said, “We continue to engage our Israeli counterparts on ways to maintain and strengthen multilateral co-ordination and to accelerate progress on the president’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza.” 

An Israeli official denied reports that Israel was considering removing German and Italian representatives from the Gaza coordination center, telling FT, “Israel has good relations with Germany and Italy.” 

Israel has rejected recent attempts to move forward with a 15-point roadmap for Gaza, citing Hamas’ failure to disarm. 

“The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time. “And when I say the disarming of Hamas, it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry. And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament.” 

Netanyahu later met with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Jared Kushner to discuss Israel’s opposition to specific aspects of the plan. The two agreed that the disarmament of Hamas is a necessary condition for the IDF's withdrawal.