EU accused of dragging its feet over ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements

An Israeli settlement near the Palestinian village of Al-Samu. Photograph: Martin Grimes/Getty Images View image in fullscreen An Israeli settlement near the Palestinian village of Al-Samu. Photograph: Martin Grimes/Getty Images EU accused of dragging its feet over ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements Foreign ministers will discuss options on Monday but decision on imports is not expected for months The EU has been accused of dragging its feet over upholding international law, on the eve of a long-awaited debate about banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements. EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday will discuss a possible ban on imports from the settlements, against an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza , where a UN inquiry found Israel to be committing a genocide , and surging state-backed violence in the occupied West Bank , which has killed at least 235 children . But the 27 ministers are not expected to take decisions about trade amid persistent divisions about how to respond to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , and his government. A part or total ban on imports from settlements is one of three options presented by the European Commission in a paper seen by the Guardian. The other two options are high tariffs that make trade economically unviable or an import licensing system. The leaked paper was first reported by Euronews. Written in cautious, bureaucratic language, the paper notes that the options “can have a substantive impact on the EU-Israel relationship, also in view of the upcoming election”, underscoring that the commission is mindful of Israel’s general election later this year. Israelis are due to go to the polls by 27 October, the first electoral test for Netanyahu since the 7 October 2023 terror attacks by Hamas. Under the EU-Israel agreement, goods from the occupied Palestinian territories (the Golan Heights, Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem) are not entitled to the preferential trade terms that apply to Israel. At least 10 European member states, including Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, say the EU has an obligation to end trade with occupied territories, following a ruling from the international court of justice (ICJ) in 2024 that called on Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories “as rapidly as possible”. The ruling found multiple breaches of international law by Israel including activities that amounted to apartheid. It said that states had to “take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assists in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory”. This call to end trade with the settlements is backed by more than 100 legal scholars, who wrote to the European Commission’s most senior trade and foreign policy officials this month affirming the EU’s “international legal obligation”. Ignacio García Bercero, a former senior trade official at the commission, who signed the letter, said: “The o