Palestine to Sue the Buyers of Israeli Products from Settlements in West Bank

Ramallah, MINA – Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh on Monday pledged to sue countries that import goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“Dealing with (Israeli) settlements is against international law,” Shtayyeh said at a weekly cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallahbas quoted from Anadolu Agency.

The threat from the Palestinian prime minister comes one day after the first shipment of merchandise from Israeli settlements to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), weeks after the two countries signed a US-sponsored agreement to normalize their relationship.

Shtayyeh described the activities of importing Israeli products by Arab countries as “an offense not committed by non-Arab countries”.

“These violations reflect gross neglect and support for the occupation, indifference to the injustices inflicted on Palestine, or a lack of awareness that dealing with these colonies violates international law,” he said.

Shtayyeh promised his party would prosecute criminal and legal charges in international courts.

Last month, the head of the Israeli Settlements Council in the occupied West Bank, Yossi Dagan, signed four agreements to export products from the settlements to Abu Dhabi through FAM Holding, a distribution company in Dubai.

On Sunday, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement – a Palestinian-led movement that works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestine – called for an intensification of its campaign against Israel by 2021 and the imposition of international sanctions for acts of oppression, occupation and persecution against the Palestinian people. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)