Occupied West Bank (QNN)- France, along with 11 other countries, including Canada, Spain, and Denmark, will begin the process of banning products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, after Britain announced a similar decision on Tuesday.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed the move on Tuesday amid rising settler violence against Palestinians.
"France is going to put an end to its commerce with Israeli settlements in Palestine, along with 11 other countries which have also undertaken similar engagements," Barrot wrote on X.
“Why are we doing this? Because the West Bank is close to exploding - there is frenzied expansion of the settlements, a flare up of violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers, and acts of terror which have been attacked by Israeli authorities themselves," added Barrot.
The move comes as frustration has grown among some European Union states, which have sought for the bloc to take a decision, but failed to gain a qualified majority with the notable opposition from Germany.
On Tuesday, Britain announced a trade ban on goods made in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in coordination with France and Canada.
"Given the situation on the ground we can't wait, so we are taking this national decision," a French diplomatic source told reporters in a briefing ahead of the announcement, Reuters reported.
The modalities of the ban have yet to be finalised and it was not immediately clear when it would be implemented.
This announcement is part of the joint initiative between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, which was discussed in particular during their meeting in London and to which several of our partners in the European Union and beyond have signed up," the source said, adding as many as a dozen countries would follow suit.
The measures come as Israel's E1 settlement project east of occupied Jerusalem threatens to cut the occupied West Bank in two and destroy any prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state, the very scheme that galvanized European governments into promising action.
The UK was joined by the leaders of Canada and five European governments, including France, Germany and Italy, in a statement condemning the plan as “unacceptable” and urging Netanyahu to withdraw the tender.
“We have also seen an intensification of violence committed by settlers, which is unacceptable and, moreover, poses an increasingly serious risk of destabilising the West Bank and the region. We regret that no sufficient measures have been taken to put an end to this situation," the source said.
The ban marks one of the more concrete European measures against Israel's settlement enterprise, moving beyond the statements of condemnation that have long substituted for action. It follows the pattern of a small but growing number of European states, from Ireland to the Netherlands to Luxembourg, that have begun to translate their stated opposition to the illegal settlements into steps with real cost, in defiance of Israeli pressure and threats.
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden joined the 12-country effort led by the UK, France and Canada on Tuesday.
The countries added that they "firmly oppose actions tantamount to the annexation of Palestinian land and forcible displacement of the Palestinian population."
They also called on the Israeli government to "immediately halt the expansion of settlements and civilian administrative powers, ensure accountability for settler violence, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces."
