Palestinian rights groups back Belgian bill against Israeli imports from occupied territories

Three Palestinian rights organisations — Al-Haq, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights — have expressed strong support for the introduction of a bill in the Belgian Parliament that proposes a ban on the import of Israeli products from the occupied Palestinian territories, Wafa has reported.

The bill, aimed at banning trade with settlements in the occupied territories and addressing other violations of international law and human rights in those areas, has been presented at the Belgian Federal Parliament by Els Van Hoof, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Belgian Parliament and MP for the CD&V party. The proposed law has been officially endorsed by five out of the seven governing parties.

It also seeks to prohibit the import, marketing and sale of products in Belgium that are closely associated with severe human rights and international law violations in occupied territories worldwide, said Wafa.

These violations include the forcible transfer of Palestinian civilian populations and the appropriation and destruction of Palestinian property for the construction and expansion of settlements, which are all prohibited under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and The Hague Regulations of 1907, and are considered war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The bill comes after Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister called on the Belgian government last week to impose sanctions against Israel and investigate the bombings of hospitals and refugee camps in Gaza. Petra De Sutter added that an import ban on products from the occupied Palestinian territories should be implemented, and violent settlers, politicians and soldiers responsible for war crimes should be banned from entering the EU.

Israel has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and destroyed thousands of civilian structures in its relentless air and ground attacks on Gaza since the 7 October surprise attack by Hamas.

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