Israel is considering expelling British officials from the US-led coordination center for postwar Gaza, the Financial Times reported Thursday, amid a growing spat over the expansion of Israel’s controversial E1 settlements plan.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed the report to The Times of Israel, adding that “other measures” against London are also under consideration.

The source, as well as a second Israeli official, denied, however, that Israel was considering expelling Italian or German officials from the hub, as the FT report had claimed.

The move is being weighed amid a spat between Israel and the United Kingdom over London’s reported plans to impose a complete ban on trade in goods from West Bank settlements along with other punitive measures in response to the expansion of Israel’s controversial E1 settlement plan, which would impede territorial contiguity between major Palestinian population centers.

The source familiar with the matter said that in a recent call between Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, “Sa’ar made very clear to the Foreign Secretary that Israel cannot allow punitive measures to be taken against it without responding.”

Measures more extreme than the possible expulsion of British officials from the International Gaza Support Center are also being considered, the source said, without elaborating.

Given Israel’s sensitive pre-election period, the source said the punitive measures could be taken before the election is held on October 27 if the dispute is not resolved.

Two people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that if Israel wants to remove international representatives from the center, it could require permission from the US-backed Board of Peace. However, a third individual told the newspaper that Israel had the right to decide who remained in its territory. The center is located in Kiryat Gat, in southern Israel.

“We continue to engage our Israeli counterparts on ways to maintain and strengthen multilateral co-ordination and to accelerate progress on the president’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza,” the Board of Peace said in a statement to the FT.

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© The Times of Israel