Norway Plans to Ban Trade with Illegal Israeli Settlements

JAKARTA - The Norwegian government on Friday said it plans to ban all trade with Israeli settlements in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.

"Norwegian citizens and Norwegian companies must not contribute to maintaining illegal settlements," the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (19/6).

"The colonization policy undermines the possibility of achieving a two-state solution," the ministry continued.

Specifically, the government wants to ban trade in goods produced in Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian land - Gaza and the West Bank, which includes East Jerusalem.

Oslo also plans to ban "the purchase of property in settlements, the provision of services related to the construction, renovation, purchase or sale of property in these areas, and the acquisition of commercial companies whose headquarters and production facilities are located in settlements," the ministry said.

The Norwegian government has drafted a bill for this purpose, which will undergo a three-month consultation, until September 19.

"We want to ban all commercial activities with this illegal settlement," Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in the statement.

The bill emphasizes that Norway will continue trade and other relations with legitimate Palestinian activities in the Palestinian territories, as well as the provision of humanitarian assistance.

"These colonies undermine the foundation of the Palestinian state," said Foreign Minister Barth Eide.

Norway, which is not a member of the European Union, recognized the Palestinian state in 2024, along with other EU members, Ireland and Spain.

Ireland is pushing the 27-nation European Union to ban all trade with Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories.

The bloc said last week it would consider options to "restrict" trade with the illegal settlements.

However, there is still no consensus among the bloc's member states to take further steps against Israel, such as ending the EU-Israel preferential trade agreement.

It is known that Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank face routine violence from Israeli forces and settlers.

Attacks, many of them fatal, have sharply increased since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

In the West Bank, rural Palestinian communities are most vulnerable to settler violence, with beatings, crop damage, livestock theft, and arson reported almost daily.

Israel has occupied Palestinian territory since 1967. Settlements there are illegal under international law.