UK premier defends sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements, warns 2-state solution at risk

The British prime minister on Wednesday 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."

"Britain has to stand for fairness against injustice. Where people are being bullied out of their homes, intimidated, we will always stand with the underdog and take what action we can to support them," Burnham told lawmakers during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions session in the House of Commons.

Defending Tuesday's measures targeting illegal occupiers and imposing a ban on trade with Israeli occupiers in the occupied West Bank, the prime minister noted that the government gave the "most careful consideration to all of the issues involved."

"Indeed, all of the risks we took myself and the foreign secretary (Ed Miliband), we took close advice from the security services, and of course officials in the Foreign Office and in our embassies," he added.

He pointed out the risk of the collapse of the two-state solution, stressing that this risk "should concern us all in terms of the effect that would have on the Middle East."

"The risk is that it (two-state solution) is dying before our eyes, and that requires us to have the courage to act in the world that we're in," added Burnham.

The UK measures, announced Tuesday by the foreign secretary, include 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.