Netherlands to ban products from Israeli settlements beginning September 22

The Netherlands announces that it will ban imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank beginning on September 22.

The Netherlands will join Ireland, Belgium and Spain among European Union countries that have imposed restrictions on trade with the settlements, which they consider to be in occupied territory. All of those countries also recognize a State of Palestine.

“With the proposed measures, the Netherlands is reinforcing its commitment to fulfilling its international legal obligation not to contribute to this unlawful situation,” the Dutch Foreign Ministry says.

The ban will apply to “the import, purchase, and sale of goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements located in the Palestinian territories,” the ministry says.

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 West Bank, but some EU members are reluctant.

The Global Echo organization, which pursues legal cases on behalf of Palestinians, 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.