Most UK diplomats to leave East Jerusalem consulate, Israel says, as Miliband says ‘vital services’ to rema

Most diplomats will leave the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, Israel says, but the UK insists the building "will not be closing", and will operate as a "UK Mission".

The UK government had made last-ditch efforts to persuade Israel not to close the British consulate ahead of Thursday's deadline, after the Israeli government said it would close the consulate within 30 days of the UK sanctions announcement."We did not want it to come to this," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on social media, as he said 20 diplomats and the consul general would leave Israel while a task force of seven could remain in the building "with a very limited scope of activity".