Britain bans trade with West Bank settlements as Burnham calls it leadership

The UK has imposed trade restrictions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham describing the move as Britain showing "leadership on the world stage". The Independent reports the ban covers goods and services from settlements beyond the Green Line. Trump has said he will "speak to Israel" about the decision.

The Guardian reports that senior UK rabbis have come out in support of the sanctions, while the Express describes Burnham's position as "tone deaf" and "completely ignoring threats to Britain". A poll reported by the Independent shows a majority of Britons back the sanctions. The Archbishop of Canterbury has also issued a statement, though the nature of his verdict is not detailed in the headlines.

The settlements sit in territory Israel occupied in the Six-Day War. International legal opinion has long held them in breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its own population into occupied territory. Britain's position is that the settlements are illegal under international law and an obstacle to a negotiated settlement. The trade ban is a sharper instrument than previous policy, which relied on labelling.

What to watch: whether other European states follow Britain's move, and whether the Trump administration applies pressure to reverse it. The legality of sanctions against settlements - as opposed to against Israel itself - has not been tested in British courts.