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AMMAN — Jordan on Saturday has welcomed decisions by the Netherlands and Belgium to ban imports of products from Israeli settlements, describing the measures as “consistent with international law and UN resolutions.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Fuad Majali said the bans represents an “important” step towards enforcing international law, particularly UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemns Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.
He also referred to the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion, which found Israel’s occupation and settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory to be unlawful.
Majali urged the international community, particularly European Union member states, to adopt similar measures to help curb illegal settlement expansion and support efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution.
He reaffirmed Jordan’s commitment to working with regional and international partners to support the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to freedom, end the occupation, and establish an independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Netherlands government announced Tuesday that it would ban imports from Palestinian territories occupied by Israeli settlers from September 22.
The Netherlands will join Ireland, Belgium and Spain among European Union countries that have imposed restrictions on trade with territories occupied by Israeli settlers.
There have been growing calls for the 27-nation bloc to impose EU-wide restrictions over Israel's military action in Gaza and increased violence in the occupied territories, but some EU members are reluctant.
Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is considered illegal under international law. And the Dutch foreign ministry said, "With the proposed measures, the Netherlands is reinforcing its commitment to fulfilling its international legal obligation not to contribute to this unlawful situation."
The ban will apply to "the import, purchase, and sale of goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements located in the Palestinian territories", the ministry said.
Belgium’s federal government has approved a ban on importing goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The decision came at the government’s final cabinet meeting before the summer break, the Belgian News Agency (Belga) reported on Saturday.
The move fulfils a commitment made last year over the scale of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and its death toll.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and more than 500,000 settlers now live in the territories alongside some three million Palestinians. Violence in the West Bank has increased since the eruption of the Gaza war after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
The Global Echo non-government group, which pursues legal cases for Palestinians against the occupation, said in a report released in June that the Netherlands accounted for a third of agricultural exports from Israel's settlements and nearly half of the total sent to the European Union.
