UK officials 'face ejection from Gaza office': Reports

Reports from Israel say the country is considering ejecting British officials and possibly those of other European countries from the United States-led coordination center for postwar Gaza in Kiryat Gat, in the south of the country.

The facility, known as the Civil-Military Coordination Center, or CMCC, was opened in October 2025, and the United Kingdom currently has the second-largest representation after the US, but Israeli officials have reportedly said that these staff members could be expelled "in light of Britain's conduct in recent months". This may be linked to last week's publication of a letter signed by more than 100 former diplomats from the UK and France, accusing Israel of systematically destroying Gaza and its population.

In addition, The Times newspaper reports that new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is preparing to announce "robust" sanctions against Israel for its latest settlement expansion plans in a region in the occupied West Bank known as E1, with a significant number of his Labour Party members of Parliament wanting him to take a tougher approach.

However, others have warned this risks incurring the wrath of Israel's biggest backer, the US, and stirring up new transatlantic tensions before Burnham has had his first meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Austria's Chancellor Christian Stocker is another critic, saying Israel "must immediately withdraw the E1 settlement plans and halt settlement expansion in the West Bank", but this has yet to draw a response from Israel.

Earlier this week, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that representatives from the Netherlands had been expelled from the CMCC with immediate effect, and given one week's notice to leave the country altogether. It was after what he called a number of "anti-Israel measures" by the Dutch government, singling out its decision in July to ban imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which takes effect in September.

'Wave of boycotts'

"The Dutch government's anti-Israel policy has been accompanied by an unprecedented wave of antisemitism and boycotts in the Netherlands," Sa'ar continued. "Our message is clear: Those who act against Israel will have no foothold in the region. Israel will not allow measures to be taken against it without a response."

The moves against the Dutch and potentially the British come after Spanish officials were also ejected from the CMCC in April.

The Spanish government has been one of Israel's most vocal critics in Europe since the outbreak of the current conflict in Gaza that took place in the aftermath of the Oct 7 attacks of 2023, which saw more than 1,000 people killed by Hamas.

Both Israel and Spain have withdrawn their ambassadors from one another's countries, and when the Spanish were banished from the CMCC, Sa'ar said Spain's government had "such a blatant anti-Israeli bias that it has lost any ability to serve as a useful actor in implementing US President Trump's peace plan and in the CMCC operating within the framework of the plan".