Israel says British consulate in East Jerusalem 'ceasing operations'

The British Consulate in East Jerusalem is "ceasing operations" on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar has said, as Israel hits back at UK sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. In a post on social media, Sa'ar said the Consul General and 20 diplomats were "ending their assignments" and would leave Israel, while a small "task force of no more than seven diplomats with a very limited scope of activity" would be authorised to continue working from the building. "We did not want it to come to this, but the Labour Government’s actions have led us here," Sa'ar wrote.