“NGOs, Trade Unions, Call on EU to Ban Trade with Israel’s Illegal Settlements”

Over 160 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), trade unions, and civil society organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have called on the European Union to ban trade and business with Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem.

In a letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the groups urged action to comply with international law and to halt Europe’s support for the illegal settlement enterprise and its underlying abuses.

The call comes as international attention shifts to “day after” scenarios amid a fragile Gaza ceasefire and continued suffering of Palestinians there, while in the West Bank Israeli authorities expand their illegal settlements and intensify their repression of Palestinians.

EU member states have repeatedly and unanimously condemned Israel’s settlements in the West Bank as “illegal” and as an “obstacle to peace”…

In the letter to von der Leyen, NGOs and trade unions highlight how the current EU policies are in breach of those obligations. While settlements’ goods are excluded from the preferential tariffs granted by the EU-Israel Association Agreement, they are not excluded from entering the EU market…