Britain, Canada and France have slammed sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank including a ban on imports, a joint statement said Tuesday.

“The time has come to take further action to uphold our commitment to protect the two-state solution, our interests and to stand up for our values, before it is too late,” said the statement signed by the three countries.

“The UK, France and Canada will therefore take steps to ban the importation of goods from settlements and enforce targeted measures against settlements and those who facilitate them or profit from them.”

The UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, accused the Israeli government of turning a blind eye to the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in the region.

“The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settlers terrorists, and all too often the Israeli government turns a blind eye to this. And worse, members of it have made statements and taking actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians,” Mr Miliband said.

Tel-Aviv has retaliated with a ban on British officials restricting them from entering Israel.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s government further announced shutting down the British consulate in East Jerusalem as payback.

“The British move is morally distorted, and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process,” Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said.