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Human Rights Watch, Amnesty urge EU to ban trade with Israeli settlements

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Israeli settlers are seen as Palestinian residents remain confined inside their homes in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus in the West Bank, on August 20, 2026, after the Israeli military declared three residential properties a “closed military zone” following repeated attacks and blockade by Israeli settlers. [Issam Rimawi – Anadolu Agency]

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called on the EU on Tuesday to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, urging European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to act on measures she proposed a year ago.

In a joint statement ahead of von der Leyen’s annual State of the EU address, the groups said “almost none” of the measures she proposed last year had been adopted.

They urged von der Leyen to revive her proposal to suspend the trade component of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and impose sanctions on Israeli officials and settlers, while also proposing an EU-wide ban on trade with Israeli settlements.

The groups said the EU was “lagging behind” as an increasing number of member states and allies moved to restrict trade with the settlements.

They pointed to the worsening situation in Gaza and the West Bank, saying the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza had risen to nearly 74,000 from at least 64,000 when von der Leyen delivered her previous address in 2025.

The groups said Israeli authorities continued to restrict humanitarian aid and had confined Gaza’s population to about 30% of the territory. They statement added that plans to remove Palestinians from Gaza were being openly discussed.

READ: UN rights chief says Israeli bulldozers continue levelling Gaza ‘with no respect for the dead’

In the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, HRW and Amnesty said settlement expansion had accelerated, alongside home demolitions, land seizures and the displacement of Palestinians.

They said at least 88 Palestinians, including 22 children, had been killed in the West Bank in 2026, bringing the total since October 2023 to nearly 1,100.

The groups also cited Israel’s adoption of a death penalty bill and the continued detention of Palestinians without charge or trial, alleging that many detainees had been subjected to torture.

On Lebanon, the statement said Israeli attacks had killed at least 4,383 people since the start of the March escalation, citing Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The figure included 261 children, 399 women and 135 medical workers.

The groups said von der Leyen should not rely solely on EU humanitarian aid to Palestinians and called on her to use the bloc’s influence to address the circumstances that have created the need for such aid.

They said she should “actively and vocally” engage with member states, particularly Germany and Italy, to secure support for an EU-wide settlement trade ban.

The organizations also called for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and sanctions against Israeli officials.

They urged the EU to consider using its blocking statute to protect the International Criminal Court and those cooperating with it from US sanctions.

The groups said another year of “failures, inaction and half-hearted proposals” would further undermine the EU’s credibility.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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