David Cameron: I had plans to sanction two Israeli ministers

Lord Cameron said both men “said things like encouraging people to stop aid convoys from entering Gaza, they encouraged the extremist settlers in the West Bank with the terrible things they have done”.

Earlier this year, Smotrich suggested that it could be “justified and moral” to starve Gazans and called on Palestinian residents to leave and make way for the Israelis who could “make the desert bloom.”

Asked why the planned sanctions were not implemented, Lord Cameron, who was Foreign Secretary between 2023 and 2024, said he had been warned that it would have been “too political an act” during the elections.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned Ben-Gvir and Smotrich’s comments as “totally unacceptable”.

Speaking at a Labor conference event, external Last month he said: “We are very concerned about the escalating behavior, the inflamed tensions.

“I am absolutely certain that if we have to act, we will act. I am in discussions with the G7 partners, especially the European partners, about this. I will not announce new sanctions today, but this is kept under close review.”