UK Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper says she has made clear to Israel that it must not retaliate to the recognition of Palestinian statehood by expanding its annexation of the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera reports.

Cooper told the BBC before attending a conference at the UN in New York that the UK had “been clear to the Israeli government that they must not do that”.

She said the decision to recognise a Palestinian state was “about the best way to respect the security for Israel as well as the security for Palestinians”.

Israeli government ministers, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have threatened to impose sovereignty over the occupied West Bank in response to the moves by the UK, Canada and Australia to recognise a Palestinian state.