The UK has announced sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, accusing Israel's government of turning a blind eye to the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians by settlers, BBC reported. 

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the move marked the "beginning of a new approach" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which "not only calls out injustice and suffering but acts".

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded by accusing him of spreading an "outrageous lie" and announced counter-measures including shutting the UK's consulate in East Jerusalem, according to BBC.