European Parliament Members Call on EU to Ban Trade with Illegal Israeli Settlements

Illustration of the Palestinian and European Union flags. (Twitter/@AmalJadou7)

A number of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Tuesday called on the European Union (EU) to stop trade with illegal Israeli settlements built in occupied Palestinian territory, amid increasing pressure on Brussels to take concrete action against settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

During a plenary debate with EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas, lawmakers urged the bloc to ban goods and services originating in Israeli settlements, arguing that continued trade undermines international law and the prospects for a two-state solution.

Kallas said a large number of EU member states had also raised the issue during the Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday and called for concrete proposals on trade with illegal settlements.

He reiterated that Israel's plan to rapidly expand settlements in the occupied West Bank "is not in line with international law" and further undermines the prospects for a two-state solution, Anadolu (16/6) reported.

Belgian MEP Hilde Vautmans of the Renew Europe group referred to newly emerged footage showing an Israeli soldier targeting a family in the occupied West Bank last week, resulting in the death of a seven-month-old baby.

"He is dead, and almost no one mentions his name," said Vautmans, arguing that the climate of impunity in Israel and the occupied territories devalues the lives of Palestinian children.

Meanwhile, German Green MEP Hannah Neumann said there was no ceasefire in Gaza and accused the occupiers of violence in the West Bank of destroying any remaining prospects for a two-state solution.

"This is the madness that happens when no one cares about international law anymore, and civilians pay the price in Gaza, Israel, Lebanon and beyond, and Europe remains divided," he said, urging the European Union to completely stop trade with Israeli settlements.

Meanwhile, Irish MEP Lynn Boylan from the Left group accused the EU of refusing to act for almost a decade, calling for a ban on goods and services originating from illegal settlements, urging the EU Trade Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, to take action.

"The International Court of Justice has confirmed that trade with the settlements is illegal. Now we need the trade commissioner to act, carry out his duties, and ban this illegal trade," he said.