Israel Might Expel UK Officials From Postwar Gaza Center

Israel is weighing the removal of British, German and Italian officials from the U.S.-led headquarters coordinating postwar arrangements for Gaza, as it considers retaliatory measures against European governments critical of Israeli settlement policy.

People familiar with the discussions said the Israeli government had considered excluding the U.K. from the International Gaza Support Center in recent weeks.

Similar action against Germany and Italy has also been examined, according to some of those people, who talked to the Financial Times.

The deliberations would extend a pattern of Israeli action against European governments whose policies have drawn criticism from Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

European Presence Under Pressure

The International Gaza Support Center, previously called the Civil-Military Coordination Center, operates from Kiryat Gat in southern Israel.

U.S. military officers lead the facility alongside the Israel Defense Forces and military and diplomatic personnel from roughly 50 countries and international organizations.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar this week ordered Dutch representatives out of the center after the Netherlands moved to boycott Israeli goods originating from settlements in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

Spain had already been removed earlier this year over what Israel called Madrid’s “obsessive anti-Israel bias.”

“Israel will not allow measures to be taken against it without a response,” Sa’ar said when announcing the action against the Netherlands.

Britain could now become the next European participant affected by that approach.

Settlement Dispute Drives Tensions

The possibility of further expulsions comes as relations between Israel and several European governments have deteriorated over Gaza, settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Netanyahu government’s expansion of settlements, which are illegal under international law.

Andy Burnham has sought to toughen the U.K.’s position toward Israel and said last month that he would consider pressure on the Israeli government through a possible prohibition on trade in settlement goods.

Britain, Germany and Italy were also among nearly 20 countries, together with the European Commission, that issued a joint letter last week criticizing Israeli plans to proceed with construction tenders for the E-1 settlement project near Jerusalem.

Analysts have warned that the project could divide the West Bank and further undermine prospects for a Palestinian state.

U.K. foreign secretary Ed Miliband said “Britain will not stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution.”

Sa’ar responded that Britain should not “lecture the Jewish people about where they may live in their historic homeland.”

Authority Over Expulsions Disputed

Whether Israel can remove additional foreign representatives without outside approval remains contested.

Two people familiar with the matter said further expulsions could require authorization from the U.S.-led Board of Peace, established by Donald Trump this year to oversee Gaza’s postwar transition and reconstruction, including the coordination center.

Another person rejected that interpretation, arguing that Israel retained sovereign authority over who could enter and remain on its territory.

A Board of Peace spokesperson 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.”

Gaza Process Remains Stalled

The diplomatic dispute is unfolding as implementation of the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire, agreed in October, remains stalled.

Israeli forces continue to occupy more than half of Gaza and carry out regular strikes.

A renewed effort by Board of Peace officials this summer to secure both Hamas’s disarmament and an Israeli military withdrawal has also failed to produce a breakthrough.

Senior U.S. envoy Jared Kushner visited the region last week for talks with Hamas and Netanyahu, but the discussions failed to resolve the deadlock.

Several sources described Kushner’s four-hour meeting with Netanyahu as having gone poorly.

Britain Braces for Retaliation

British officials have shown little surprise at the possibility that London could be removed from the Gaza coordination structure.

One person familiar with the situation said Israel’s previous actions against Spain and the Netherlands made some form of “payback” for Britain’s tougher position foreseeable.

Pressure on the British government has also increased domestically.

More than 140 MPs recently signed a letter urging Burnham to proceed with a ban on goods produced in Israeli settlements.

The question now is whether Israel extends its retaliation beyond Spain and the Netherlands to three of Europe’s most prominent participants in the U.S.-led Gaza framework.