Most UK Diplomats to Leave East Jerusalem Consulate as Miliband Says 'Mission' to Remain
BBC Homepage
Accessibility Help
Your account
Home
News
Sport
Earth
Reel
Worklife
Travel
Culture
Future
Music
TV
Weather
Sounds
More menu
More menu
Search BBC
Home
Climate
World
UK
Business
Tech
Science
Entertainment & Arts
Health
In Pictures
More
BBC Verify
Newsbeat
World
Africa
Asia
Australia
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
US & Canada
Most diplomats will leave the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, Israel says, but the UK insists the building "will not be closing", and will operate as a "UK Mission"
Image source: Reuters
Published: 8 October 2026, 07:35 BST
Updated: 9 minutes ago
Most diplomats will leave the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, Israel says, but the UK insists the building "will not be closing", and will operate as a "UK Mission" as per UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband.
"We did not want it to come to this," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on social media, as he said 20 diplomats and the Consul General would leave Israel while a task force of seven could remain in the building "with a very limited scope of activity".
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband responded that some staff had been "temporarily withdrawn" for security reasons, but stressed the mission will "work with the Palestinian people".
Israel said in September it would shut the consulate, in retaliation for UK sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank which are illegal under international law.