The Belgian government has announced a ban on the import of products originating from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Belgian news agency Belga reported on Saturday that the federal cabinet approved the decision during its final meeting before the summer recess, following discussions on imports coming from the occupied Palestinian territories.

The government has not yet announced the mechanism for implementing the decision or the date on which it will come into effect.

The move comes amid growing settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, as European diplomats and officials said EU foreign ministers recently discussed new measures in Brussels aimed at limiting trade with Israeli settlements.

Reuters quoted a senior European Union diplomat and an EU official as saying that the discussions were based on a confidential paper issued by the European Commission outlining three possible options: an import licensing system, imposing high customs duties, or introducing a complete ban.

Meanwhile, Politico reported, citing four informed diplomats, that a group of EU countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain, are seeking to pressure the European Commission into proposing restrictions on trade with Israeli settlements.

According to the report, Spanish member of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Nacho Sánchez Amor said that settlements are illegal and argued that the most effective solution would be to simply ban imports of all goods produced in settlements.

The European Union imposed sanctions in May on four entities and three individuals over what it described as serious and systematic human rights violations committed against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

In an advisory opinion issued in July 2024, the International Court of Justice said that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and its settlement construction in the West Bank are illegal, and that states should take measures to prevent trade or investment relations that contribute to maintaining this situation.

Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee also said in May that Ireland was seeking to pass legislation restricting trade in settlement goods from the occupied West Bank by mid-July, despite opposition from Israel, some U.S. lawmakers, and business groups.

Legal Obligation

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar previously described efforts by some European governments to implement the International Court of Justice advisory opinion as “shameful.”

Human Rights Watch has argued that banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements is not merely a political choice, but a legal obligation under international and European law.

The organization called on the European Commission to impose an explicit ban on such trade in order to comply with these obligations.

The occupied West Bank has witnessed an unprecedented escalation in Israeli military operations and settler attacks since October 2023.

According to Palestinian figures, the escalation has resulted in the killing of 1,181 Palestinians, the injury of around 13,000 others, and the detention of nearly 24,000 people.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have continued confiscating thousands of dunams of Palestinian land for settlement expansion and the establishment of new outposts.