From the Liveblog of
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Source confirms Israel weighing expelling UK officials from Gaza hub, ‘other measures’ too, amid spat over E1 plan
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
Israel is considering expelling British representatives from the US-backed international coordination center for Gaza in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, a source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel, confirming an earlier Financial Times report and adding that “other measures” against London are also under consideration.
The source, as well as a second Israeli official, denies, however, that Israel is considering expelling Italian or German officials from the hub, as the FT report had claimed.
The move is being weighed amid a spat between Israel and the United Kingdom over London’s reported plans to impose a complete ban on trade in goods from West Bank settlements and take other punitive measures in response to the expansion of Israel’s controversial E1 settlement plan, which would impede territorial contiguity between major Palestinian population centers.
The source familiar with the matter says that in a recent call between Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, “Sa’ar made very clear to the Foreign Secretary that Israel cannot allow punitive measures to be taken against it without responding.”
Measures more extreme than the possible expulsion of British officials from the International Gaza Support Center are also being considered, the source says, without elaborating.
Given Israel’s sensitive pre-election period, the source says the punitive measures could be taken before elections are held on October 27 if the dispute is not resolved.
The Times of Israel Community.