Twelve countries, including Britain, Canada and France, said on Tuesday that they would impose sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, following an increase in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages in the occupied territory.
Issued on: 08/09/2026 - 22:32
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Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden also plan to restrict trade with the settlements, the nations' foreign ministers said in a joint statement. Twelve nations act Ireland and Spain have already taken measures against trade with Israeli settlements, and France has for weeks been pushing for a similar decision from the European Union, Israel's leading trading partner, but has been blocked by some member states. NGOs take France to court over companies’ links to Israeli settlements "The Government of Israel's actions in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-state solution," the twelve ministers said, referring to a plan under which two states — one Israeli and one Palestinian — would live peacefully side by side. "The situation is rapidly deteriorating amid unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion," they warned. Settlement trade halted "The Government of Israel must immediately halt the expansion of settlements and civilian administrative powers, ensure accountability for settler violence, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces," the ministers added. West Bank settlements prompt call for sanctions from European political figures The ministers said the twelve countries "confirm their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law, or that they are actively considering these and other measures, in accordance with their national procedures." Individual sanctions The move builds on months of individual sanctions targeting Israeli settlers rather than trade itself. In May 2026, EU foreign ministers agreed a package of sanctions on settlers and settler organisations "guilty of supporting the extremist and violent colonisation of the West Bank," after Hungary's veto was lifted following a change of government in Budapest. How the Golan Heights emerged as a new front in Israeli expansion Later that month, the EU's Council formally listed additional settlers and organisations, including the Nachala Settlement Movement and its director Daniella Weiss, under the bloc's Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, bringing the total to 136 people and 41 entities sanctioned since 2020. Tuesday's announcement marks a shift from sanctioning individuals to targeting trade with the settlements directly, a step several EU states, including Spain, Slovenia and Ireland, had pushed for without success as recently as this spring, when the bloc rejected a bid to suspend its wider cooperation agreement with Israel (Consilium). (With newswires)
