Belgium Bans Imports from Israeli Settlements in Occupied Palestine

Belgium's federal government has approved a ban on importing goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. The decision was taken at the government's final cabinet meeting before the summer break, according to the Belgian News Agency (Belga). The move fulfills a commitment made last year in response to the scale of Israel's bombardment of Gaza and its death toll.

Earlier this week, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot urged EU counterparts at a closed-door meeting in Brussels to adopt a bloc-wide ban, accusing the European Commission of offering ministers "a bone to chew on" rather than a genuine plan to act. The ban arrives as EU foreign ministers remain deadlocked over a bloc-wide prohibition on trade with illegal settlements.

The case for tighter controls was strengthened this year by a Global Echo Litigation Center investigation, which examined more than 30,000 export documents covering thousands of Israeli agricultural shipments to Europe. Roughly one in six contained goods grown in settlements in the occupied West Bank or Golan Heights, rising to nearly one in five among shipments bound for EU countries. Investigators found exporters routinely obscured the true origin of the produce, labeling it as Israeli, blending it with genuine Israeli stock, or shipping it under addresses unrelated to where it was grown.

Belgium joins a list of states no longer waiting for EU-wide action. Spain enshrined a ban into law last September, the Netherlands agreed to one in May, and Slovenia adopted a similar measure earlier this year, though it has dramatically shifted its approach to Israel following the election of a more pro-Israel government. Ireland's parliament passed its own prohibition on July 15, days before Belgium's move.

These national bans follow efforts earlier this month by the EU to coordinate action among its member states. The European Commission circulated a paper to EU capitals outlining three options: an import ban, a licensing scheme, or high tariffs on settlement goods. However, no decision was reached.

Five former European officials, including former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and former German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, published a joint call for the EU to adopt a bloc-wide ban. They argued that national bans like Belgium's carry limited weight alone, since goods cleared through customs in one member state can move freely across the rest of the bloc. A ban, they wrote, would not amount to a sanction against Israel but would simply bring EU trade policy into line with restrictions it has applied before, including on conflict minerals and goods made with forced labor.

Several EU countries, including Spain, Italy, and Germany, have also acted to restrict arms exports to Israel over the war in Gaza.