A coalition of 84 humanitarian and human rights organisations is demanding that countries completely ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements following July’s ICJ ruling that declared Israel’s occupation unlawful, Al Jazeera reports.
The report reveals that Israeli settlers now control more than 42 per cent of West Bank land confiscated from Palestinian communities and that the occupation by Israel and the settlers has devastated the Palestinian economy, costing an estimated $50 billion between 2000 and 2020, while Israel provides generous subsidies to settlement businesses through tax breaks and grants.
The report says that current European labelling policies have failed — 90pc of settlement-produced wines sold in Europe are mislabelled as “Made in Israel” — and the EU imports 15 times more goods from illegal settlements than from Palestinian producers.
The report also exposes major European companies enabling settlements: JCB construction equipment demolishing Palestinian homes, Siemens providing rail services to settlements, Carrefour operating stores in occupied territory and banks like Barclays providing billions in financing.
