12 Nations Ban Trade With Israeli Settlements

Twelve countries, including the United Kingdom, France, and Canada, announced Tuesday they would impose sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The foreign ministers of these nations stated in a joint declaration that actions by the Israeli government in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-state solution and that the situation is rapidly deteriorating amid unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion. The countries implementing the measures include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden, in addition to the UK, France, and Canada. This coordinated action follows weeks of increased attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages in the occupied territory, which have drawn widespread international condemnation. The move bypasses an European Union-wide deadlock, where some member states, including Germany, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Austria, had opposed collective restrictions.