UK says will continue 'vital services' after Jerusalem consulate ends functions

The UK government on Thursday pledged to continue delivering "vital services" in Jerusalem after Israel said the British consulate in the city ended its functions.

Israel had ordered the closure of the consulate in September as retaliation after London led Western sanctions over violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

On Wednesday Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that the consulate ended its functions but that seven diplomats would be allowed to remain in a limited capacity.

British Foreign Minister Ed Miliband said in a statement that the building housing the consulate will remain open and would "be known as the UK Mission, Jerusalem from today (Thursday).

"The UK Mission, Jerusalem is independent, operational, and will continue to deliver vital services and our work with the Palestinian people," Miliband said in a statement.

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The UK would not take "reciprocal action" while talks with the Israeli government were ongoing, he added.

Miliband said the UK did not accept that the Israeli government had "the legal right" to enforce the closure, adding that the government had "temporarily withdrawn a number of staff and families to ensure their safety and security".

"We will work in the coming months to build back up our presence and we will not take reciprocal action while such discussions are underway and credible," he added.

Israel ordered the closure on September 8 and also said it would expel British representatives at a centre monitoring the US-brokered ceasefire plan in Gaza, bar British training for Palestinian Authority forces and ban 12 Britons, mostly members of parliament, from visiting.

It came after 12 countries including Britain, Canada and France announced they would sanction trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, following a surge in settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied territory.

The British consulate was located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel later annexed east Jerusalem and considers the holy city its undivided capital.