The Netherlands will join Ireland, Belgium and Spain among European Union countries that have imposed restrictions on trade with territories occupied by Israeli settlers.
There have been growing calls for the 27-nation bloc to impose EU-wide restrictions over Israel’s military action in Gaza and increased violence in the occupied territories, but some EU members are reluctant.
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is considered illegal under international law. And the Dutch foreign ministry said: “With the proposed measures, the Netherlands is reinforcing its commitment to fulfilling its international legal obligation not to contribute to this unlawful situation.”
The ban will apply to “the import, purchase, and sale of goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements located in the Palestinian territories”, the ministry said.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and more than 500,000 settlers now live in the territories alongside some three million Palestinians. Violence in the West Bank has increased since the eruption of the Gaza war after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
The Global Echo non-government group, which pursues legal cases for Palestinians against the occupation, said in a report released in June that the Netherlands accounted for a third of agricultural exports from Israel’s settlements and nearly half of the total sent to the European Union.
