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Palestine Hails 12-Nation Statement Restricting Settlement Trade
(MENAFN) Palestinian officials on Tuesday welcomed a joint declaration from 12 countries reaffirming support for a two-state solution and unveiling new trade restrictions targeting goods manufactured in illegal Israeli settlements across the occupied Palestinian territories.
Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh called the measures a "step in the right direction," though he pressed for binding international enforcement to stop illegal settlement expansion and what he described as the de facto annexation of the West Bank.
The joint statement came from the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK, who cited Israeli government policy, escalating settler violence, and ongoing settlement expansion as justification for the new trade limits.
Al-Sheikh argued the international community can no longer rely on condemnation and political rhetoric alone, calling instead for "binding and decisive measures" to halt settlement growth and annexation efforts. He urged renewed commitment to international law, UN Security Council resolutions, and accountability for perpetrators of settler violence.
E1 project threatens to sever West Bank in two
Al-Sheikh singled out Israel's ongoing settlement plans — particularly the E1 project — as a direct threat to Palestinian territorial unity, warning it could split the West Bank's northern and southern regions and derail any path toward a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.
The E1 project spans the corridor between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement to the city's east. Palestinian and international officials have repeatedly cautioned that building in this zone would fracture the West Bank and deal a severe blow to hopes for a geographically unified Palestinian state.
“Protecting the two-state solution is not limited to reaffirming political commitment to it,” al-Sheikh said, emphasizing the need to shield Palestinian land from annexation, settlement growth and occupier violence, end the occupation altogether, and convert international law into concrete action.
He added that concrete steps to halt settlement activity and hold violators accountable would help safeguard prospects for peace while bolstering regional and international security.
The announcement lands against a backdrop of intensifying Israeli military and settler attacks in the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war began in October 2023. Palestinian authorities have catalogued a mounting toll: killings, arrests, home demolitions, attacks on mosques and vehicles, destroyed farmland, restricted access for farmers to their own property, and forced displacement.
Palestinian figures put the settler population at roughly 750,000, spread across 156 illegal settlements and 360 outposts throughout the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Palestinian officials warn that continued Israeli military operations and settler violence are laying the groundwork for formal annexation of the West Bank — a move they say would gut the prospects for Palestinian statehood envisioned under relevant UN resolutions.
Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh called the measures a "step in the right direction," though he pressed for binding international enforcement to stop illegal settlement expansion and what he described as the de facto annexation of the West Bank.
The joint statement came from the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK, who cited Israeli government policy, escalating settler violence, and ongoing settlement expansion as justification for the new trade limits.
Al-Sheikh argued the international community can no longer rely on condemnation and political rhetoric alone, calling instead for "binding and decisive measures" to halt settlement growth and annexation efforts. He urged renewed commitment to international law, UN Security Council resolutions, and accountability for perpetrators of settler violence.
E1 project threatens to sever West Bank in two
Al-Sheikh singled out Israel's ongoing settlement plans — particularly the E1 project — as a direct threat to Palestinian territorial unity, warning it could split the West Bank's northern and southern regions and derail any path toward a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.
The E1 project spans the corridor between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement to the city's east. Palestinian and international officials have repeatedly cautioned that building in this zone would fracture the West Bank and deal a severe blow to hopes for a geographically unified Palestinian state.
“Protecting the two-state solution is not limited to reaffirming political commitment to it,” al-Sheikh said, emphasizing the need to shield Palestinian land from annexation, settlement growth and occupier violence, end the occupation altogether, and convert international law into concrete action.
He added that concrete steps to halt settlement activity and hold violators accountable would help safeguard prospects for peace while bolstering regional and international security.
The announcement lands against a backdrop of intensifying Israeli military and settler attacks in the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war began in October 2023. Palestinian authorities have catalogued a mounting toll: killings, arrests, home demolitions, attacks on mosques and vehicles, destroyed farmland, restricted access for farmers to their own property, and forced displacement.
Palestinian figures put the settler population at roughly 750,000, spread across 156 illegal settlements and 360 outposts throughout the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Palestinian officials warn that continued Israeli military operations and settler violence are laying the groundwork for formal annexation of the West Bank — a move they say would gut the prospects for Palestinian statehood envisioned under relevant UN resolutions.
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