LONDON: Britain and four allies joined forces Tuesday to sanction two Israeli ministers for “repeated incitements of violence” against Palestinians, upping their condemnation of Israel’s actions around the war in Gaza. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir will be banned from entering the UK and will have any assets in the country frozen, Britain’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Ben Gvir and Smotrich “have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights,” the foreign ministers of the five countries said in a joint statement. Smotrich and Ben Gvir are part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fragile ruling coalition. Smotrich, who lives in a West Bank settlement, has supported the expansion of settlements and has increasingly called for the territory’s annexation.

Source: The Times June 10, 2025 12:25 UTC