Amman, July 21 (Petra) - The Dutch government announced Tuesday that it will ban imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories effective September 22 The Dutch Foreign Ministry stated that the ban applies to the "import, purchase, and sale of products originating from illegal Israeli settlements located in the Palestinian territories." "We want to prevent Dutch society, through its economic activities, from contributing to an unlawful occupation and the maintenance of illegal settlements," said Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten.

The Netherlands joins EU members Ireland, Belgium, and Spain in restricting trade with Israeli settlements.

Calls across the 27-nation bloc for EU-wide trade restrictions intensified amid ongoing military aggression in Gaza and rising violence in the West Bank.

A June report by Global Echo, a non-governmental organization tracking legal cases for Palestinians, found that the Netherlands accounts for roughly one-third of all agricultural exports originating from Israeli settlements and nearly half of those destined for EU nations, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

//Petra// HA