Belgium approves import ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlers

The Belgian federal government has approved a series of measures, including an import ban on goods originating from the occupied Palestinian territories, at its final meeting before the summer recess.

The import ban was part of an agreement reached by the government at the end of last summer in response to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and the mounting civilian death toll.

Details on how the ban will be implemented have yet to be finalised, according to Belga News Agency.

The decision comes as Israel continues to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

‘De facto annexation’

The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said on Friday that Israeli authorities had advanced plans for 1,024 settlement units on more than 1,069 dunams of Palestinian land since the beginning of July.

The commission said the projects, including expansions of the Mevo Dotan, Beit Hagai and Asael settlements, were aimed at consolidating Israel’s “de facto annexation” of the occupied territory.