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Unless a last-minute agreement is reached, the consulate will lose its diplomatic status later today, barring about 30 diplomats from legally operating from the building.

Westminster was said to be making a last-ditch attempt this week to persuade Israel not to close the consulate, but Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar said his country would hold firm.

The consulate, first established in 1838, handles UK relations with Palestinians in the city, as well as in the West Bank and Gaza.

It is a separate mission from the UK embassy in Tel Aviv, the country’s main diplomatic interface with Israel.

According to Israeli media, Britain is gearing up to expel up to 27 Israeli diplomats following the threatened closure.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the Government would not comment on “speculation and live discussions” around the possibility of expulsions.

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REUTERS

The retaliation has come after the UK accused the Israeli government of turning a blind eye to the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians.

Both Israel and the US criticised the UK’s stance, which involves a ban on imports from illegal settlements in the West Bank and sanctions on individuals and firms providing services to settlers.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the Commons that a “new approach” was necessary because plans for the E1 development in the West Bank would render a two-state solution “unviable” by “cutting through the heart of Palestine”.

He said the British Government believes the occupation of the West Bank as a whole is unlawful, going beyond the previous position of describing only the settlements themselves as illegal.

Mr Miliband claimed there is evidence that Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza.

Andy Burnham said the sanctions were “aimed not at the Israeli people, but in support of the two-state solution”.

Some 11 people were arrested at pro-Palestine demonstrations in London on Wednesday as protesters clashed three years on from the October 7 terror attacks.

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