12 European countries announce ban on imports of products from West Bank settlements

[London Current Affairs] On the 8th, 12 European countries including the United Kingdom, France, and Canada issued a joint statement announcing that they will ban the import of products from Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The move comes as Israel recently embarked on large-scale settlement construction in the area connecting East Jerusalem and the West Bank. It is inevitable that this will provoke a backlash from Israel and the United States, which supports Israel.

The statement confirmed agreement to introduce "restrictions on trade with settlements that are contrary to international law" and called on Israel to immediately stop expanding its settlements. Sweden, Norway and Poland have also joined.

British Foreign Secretary Miliband read a related statement in the House of Commons on the 8th, harshly accusing "settler terrorists" of carrying out "ethnic cleansing" in parts of the West Bank. He called for a "new approach" to Israel.