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LONDON — <\/span>The U.K. government said Tuesday that it’s banning trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank,<\/a> where it says \u201csettler terrorists\u201d are carrying out \u201cethnic cleansing\u201d of Palestinians.<\/p>\n Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said that the U.K. will ban imports of all goods from the settlements, and some services including financing, construction, infrastructure, real estate and advertising for settlements. He said that France and Canada would also ban trade in goods from settlements.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a significant toughening of Britain\u2019s stance towards longtime ally Israel, whose conduct towards the Palestinians under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> has increasingly been criticized by the U.K. and other Israeli allies.<\/p>\n Under Netanyahu\u2019s ultranationalist government, settlement construction<\/a> in the West Bank \u2014 seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war \u2014 has surged. The international community overwhelmingly considers such construction to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.<\/p>\n Netanyahu\u2019s government views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n \u201dThe British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists,\u201d Miliband said. He said there had been \u201chouses bulldozed, roads and public infrastructure destroyed, families displaced from their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that he feels \u201ca deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the eyes of the international community.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will not acquiesce in the destruction of the two-state solution,\u201d Miliband said.<\/p>\n The ban on trade would be in place in six to nine months, he said. He said that Canada and France will also announce a ban on goods from Israeli settlements, while Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Sweden have pledged to \u201csupport further action.\u201d<\/p>\n The Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Norway have either banned goods from settlements or are in the process of doing so, he said.<\/p>\n Miliband also tightened Britain\u2019s embargo on weapons sales to Israel for use in Gaza to include arms \u201cthat materially contribute to the occupation\u201d of Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n The United Kingdom, a longtime ally of Israel, recognized Palestinian statehood<\/a> last year in an attempt to revive dwindling efforts to achieve a two-state solution.<\/p>\n The center-left Labour Party government has previously sanctioned some Israeli settlers and illegal outposts over violence against Palestinians and illegal development in the West Bank.<\/p>\n U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has voiced concerns about the E1 settlement project<\/a> approved by Israel, which would effectively cut the territory in two. Palestinians and rights groups say it could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.<\/p>\n A tougher line on settlements is likely to be welcomed by many Labour voters and lawmakers, who have urged the government to go further in sanctioning Israel and supporting the Palestinians. <\/p>\n