LONDON/TEL AVIV/PARIS/GENEVA: Israel announced on September 8 that it would close the British consulate in East Jerusalem after Britain, France and Canada proposed measures to restrict imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Britain would also withdraw from a U.S.-led coordination mission dealing with Gaza. He added that several British officials and other foreign nationals would be barred from entering Israel. Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those named.

Saar strongly criticized the British government's position. "The British move is morally distorted, and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process," he said.

He also accused British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband of making serious and unacceptable claims about Israel. Saar rejected Miliband's comments concerning the alleged ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and described them as false accusations.

The British consulate in East Jerusalem has diplomatic ties with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Its closure would therefore affect Britain's diplomatic presence in the Palestinian territories.

Saar said he had discussed and coordinated the Israeli response with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli President Isaac Herzog also accused Britain of trying to interfere in Israel's political affairs ahead of the country's next election, which is expected to take place in late October.

The Israeli government's decision came as Britain, France and Canada moved towards stronger action over Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank. The three countries have proposed measures aimed at restricting trade involving goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied territory.

The three countries were joined by the foreign ministers of 10 other nations in a joint statement. The group included Denmark, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

The ministers reaffirmed their support for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Under such an arrangement, an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel, with both sides living in peace and security.

At the same time, international concern has continued to increase over the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

UN Raises Concerns On Israeli Role in Syria

In a related development, a United Nations commission investigating the situation in Syria has raised serious concerns about Israel's growing military presence inside Syrian territory and warned that some actions, including the detention of Syrian civilians, could potentially amount to war crimes.

The warning was delivered during an update to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Commissioner Fionnuala Ní Aoláin said Israeli forces were carrying out regular ground operations in parts of southern Syria. These included military patrols, incursions, raids, and searches that affected residents.

Following Assad's fall, Israeli forces moved into a UN-monitored buffer zone along the Syrian border. Israel said the deployment was temporary and was necessary to protect its security during Syria's political transition.

Since then, Israeli forces have carried out hundreds of air strikes against Syrian military facilities and have taken control of additional positions further inside Syrian territory.

The Syrian government and the United Nations have argued that the Israeli military presence violates Syria's sovereignty. They also said it violates the 1974 disengagement agreement, reached after the 1973 Middle East war.

Israel has maintained that its military actions are required to protect the country from security threats.

The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said it had recorded the construction of temporary checkpoints and permanent or semi-permanent military facilities by Israeli forces on Syrian soil. Much of the activity was reported in the southern provinces of Quneitra and Daraa.

The commission said the continued Israeli military presence had created uncertainty among residents at a time when Syria was trying to rebuild and restore basic services.

"The Commission is deeply alarmed about continued Israeli violations," Ní Aoláin told the council.