A group of 40 countries has proposed a broad set of sanctions against Israel, including arms embargoes and tighter scrutiny of travelers linked to settlement activity, saying the measures are needed to respond to what they described as the accelerating “de facto annexation” of the West Bank.
According to the co-chairs' statement, the group presented these measures in response to an "unprecedented acceleration" of settlement policies that constitute a "direct assault" on Palestinian self-determination.
Among the proposed enforcement tools is a disclosure requirement for travelers with Israeli documents, subjecting those who served in the military to "secondary screening at ports of entry" under war-crimes inadmissibility rules.
The states also called for a total prohibition on the import of settlement goods and a halt to the "transfer, transit, or carriage of arms" and military fuel.
The statement emphasized that governments face a clear choice between "complicity or compliance," asserting: "History will judge us not by the speeches we delivered, but by the actions we took."
