Like France, several European countries are raising their voices on the issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
This Tuesday, on his X account, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that « France will end trade with Israeli settlements located in the occupied Palestinian territories. »
This decision was taken jointly with 11 other countries, namely the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden.
« The West Bank is on the brink of explosion »
« The West Bank is on the brink of explosion: the rapid expansion of the colonization in violation of international law, a flare-up of violence committed by extremist settlers against Palestinians, acts of terror denounced by the Israeli authorities themselves, » the minister justified.
Thus, these 12 countries urge the Israeli authorities to « end the illegal colonization and the intolerable violence that accompanies it » and have promised to « take national measures to prohibit trade arising from goods from the settlements », deemed « illegal under international law ».
Interviewed by RFI on Saturday, September 5, Jean-Noël Barrot had already stated: « What is happening in the West Bank today is properly scandalous and unworthy, undermining the dignity of the Palestinian people, but also the security of Israel and the two-state solution. »
