Bethlehem: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates: welcomed the decision of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to ban the import of products from illegal Israeli colonial settlements established on the occupied Palestinian Territory, including occupied East Jerusalem, as well as the occupied Syrian Golan.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency, the ministry considered the decision a significant and advanced step of legal, political, humanitarian, and ethical importance, consistent with the principles upheld by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and aligned with international law, relevant UN resolutions, and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.
The ministry affirmed that international law is not merely political discourse but a binding framework requiring practical measures that uphold international justice and prevent the entrenchment of illegal situations. It added that the step might not remain limited to goods, but could extend to services and investment.
The ministry stated that the importance of the decision goes beyond its commercial dimension related to colonial settlement products. It contributes to reaffirming the international legal characterization of the settlement and occupation system as an unlawful reality that should not be engaged with, supported, recognized, or assisted, and to dismantling its economic structure that reinforces the continuation of the occupation and enables its expansion and entrenchment on the ground.
The ministry called on the international community, including all states, to build on this decision by adopting a comprehensive package of binding measures at both bilateral and multilateral levels. This includes a full legal ban on colonial settlement products, cessation of dealings with companies linked to colonial settlements, activation of international accountability mechanisms, and imposing sanctions on colonists who commit terrorist crimes against the Palestinian people, including through the activation of universal jurisdiction mechanisms and taking practical steps to ensure respect for international law.
The ministry reaffirmed that ending the Israeli occupation, dismantling the colonial settlement system, and realizing the independence of the State of Palestine on the 4 June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, remains the only path to achieving a just and lasting peace in the region.