Israel orders British military team to leave the West Bank - Sarmad
Israel has ordered British soldiers monitoring settler violence in the West Bank to leave the country, just as they were preparing to expand their mission.
According to The Telegraph, the British team’s primary role was to advise and assist in training the Palestinian Authority’s security forces, which provide police and security services in parts of the West Bank under the Oslo Accords. However, in recent years, the team had evolved into something akin to the West’s “eyes and ears” in the occupied territories, sending detailed reports on the escalating settler violence to both London and Washington through the U.S. security coordinator’s office.
The British Support Team, comprising around ten military personnel stationed in Ramallah, was on the verge of quadrupling its size in the coming weeks. However, it was ordered to depart in response to trade sanctions led by Britain against West Bank settlements. The team was given seven days to evacuate, along with a small group of British military and diplomatic personnel supporting the ceasefire in Gaza at the international headquarters in Kiryat Gat.
Sources in Whitehall stated that Israel had been spying on the British soldiers and believed that Tel Aviv was looking for a pretext to expel them, noting that the team’s communications were routinely intercepted by Israeli agents.
One official said, “The Israelis are listening to everything, especially the reports compiled and issued by the team regarding settler violence and the situation in the West Bank. It is not surprising that they were asked to leave.”
A source in the British Ministry of Defence said the British Support Team was vital for Britain and the United States to obtain detailed information about settler attacks, adding, “Closing it down is an absolute gift to the Israelis, as it shuts off the eyes and ears regarding what is happening there.”
In response to British sanctions against West Bank settlements, Israel also ordered the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem within a month.
