Britain and Israel have reached a deal to avert the full closure of the British consulate general in East Jerusalem after Israel ordered it closed. Britain is redesignating the building as a UK mission and says the renamed facility will remain operational with reduced staff, while Israel says the consulate will no longer function in that capacity.

Israel says 20 British staffers will leave the country and the seven diplomats remaining at the building will have a limited scope of activity. Ed Miliband said “vital services” would continue at the site.

The UK says it will not expel Israeli diplomats in retaliation for now. Israel said in September that it would act in response to UK sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The closure order followed the UK's ban on trade in goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.