France will launch a process to ban products from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday, amid rising settler violence that has further undermined prospects for a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
– “France is going to put an end to its commerce with Israeli settlements in Palestine, along with 11 other countries which have also undertaken similar engagements,” Barrot wrote on X.
– “Why are we doing this? Because the West Bank is close to exploding – there is frenzied expansion of the settlements, a flare up of violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers, and acts of terror which have been attacked by Israeli authorities themselves,” added Barrot.
– Last year, France recognised Palestinian statehood at a high-level summit ahead of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York.
https://aje.news/jlpmqq?update=4928672