UK sanctions on Israeli settlements to cover East Jerusalem, Syria's Golan Heights: Report

Britain's sanctions against illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank will also include those in occupied East Jerusalem and Syria's Golan Heights, according to a media report on Friday.

Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights, Syria, and in occupied East Jerusalem will also be covered by Britain's new measures targeting illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, government sources told UK-based news website Middle East Eye.

According to UN Security Council Resolution 497, the Israeli Golan Heights Law, which effectively annexed the Golan Heights, is "null and void and without international legal effect." The resolution further calls on Israel to rescind its action. The UN also recognizes East Jerusalem as occupied territory.

Earlier this week, UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced a series of measures, including a ban on imports from illegal Israeli settlements, sanctions on companies and individuals facilitating settlement expansion, and additional sanctions on extremist Israeli occupiers accused of supporting or inciting violence against Palestinians.

The British prime minister has defended the government's sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying the risk of the collapse of the two-state solution "should concern us all."