Al-Haq welcomes the government of Ireland’s reconsideration of its approach to trade with Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), and the revival of the Occupied Territories Bill. Given the urgency and escalating human rights situation on the ground, this long overdue measure must be implemented immediately without delay. Al-Haq further emphasises that the Bill must go beyond prohibiting only trade with settlements to address the import of goods and services between Ireland and Occupying Powers unlawfully present in occupied territory, and in such circumstances, prohibit all trade with the Occupying Power and international companies that sustain and maintain the unlawful occupation, including in the Palestinian context, whereby the Palestinian people are further enduring an ongoing Nakba – the latest chapter of which is Israel’s genocide in Gaza – perpetrated by the Zionist settler-colonial apartheid regime since 1948.

With shared struggles, histories, and a long-standing relationship with the Palestinian people, Ireland is the first European Union (EU) Member State to officially recognise Israel’s de facto annexation of the OPT as a violation of international law, and has been at the forefront of international efforts towards the realisation of the Palestinian right to self-determination. Ireland is also the first EU Member State to introduce a legislative bill criminalising the trade in goods, services, and natural resources originating from illegal settlements in occupied territories. The Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018, while not specific to the OPT, would represent a significant step towards ensuring that Ireland does not facilitate the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinians from their land or the erasure of Palestinian life, culture, and history in the occupied West Bank, including eastern Jerusalem, and Gaza.

While instrumental to upholding Ireland’s obligations under international law, including those stemming from the Geneva Conventions of 1949, progress on the Occupied Territories Bill has stalled significantly since it was first introduced in 2018. This is largely due to claims that the Bill is at odds with EU Trade Law. Since trade is an exclusive competence of the EU, individual Member States cannot impose trade bans unilaterally. Notwithstanding this, Article 36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that individual Member States can introduce restrictions on trade when they can be justified as a matter of “public policy”.

The prohibitions included in the Occupied Territories Bill are geared directly towards promoting the objectives of, and giving effect to, fundamental rules of international law. This is clearly a matter of public policy. These rules of international law also bind the EU and reflect its rhetoric and stance with regards to the illegality of Israeli settlements. Although this alone should have been sufficient for the Irish government to satisfy any alleged concerns regarding the Bill’s compatibility with EU law, and consequently prioritise the Bill in its Programme for Government, we have unfortunately seen little advancement in the last four years.

As it stands, both the Dáil (lower house of legislature) and the Seanad (the Senate) have approved the Occupied Territories Bill, but not the government. However, the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) recent Advisory Opinion has reaffirmed the need to revive, expand and commence the Bill. In its landmark Advisory Opinion, Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, the ICJ found that Israel’s continued presence in the OPT is unlawful and must end “as rapidly as possible”, and that Israel must immediately stop all new settlement activities, evacuate all settlers, and return the land and other immovable property, as well as make reparations to all natural and legal persons damaged in the course of the occupation.  The Court also reminded Third States, including  the EU and its Member States, as well as the international community as a whole, of their obligation “not to render aid or assistance” that could maintain Israel’s unlawful presence in the OPT. The Court removes any doubt that Israel’s conduct represents a flagrant breach of jus cogens norms and erga omnes obligations. Moreover, the UN General Assembly recently adopted a resolution – co-sponsored by Ireland – with overwhelming support, which calls on all States to comply with their legal obligations, including by “[a]bstaining from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the [OPT] or parts thereof which may entrench its unlawful presence in the Territory” as well as “[t]aking steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the [OPT]”.

Based on these historical developments, which resulted in Ireland’s Attorney General determining that the context of how the State might move forward has now changed, the Irish government has accepted the need to “turn its mind to implementation” and review the Bill in order to bring it into line with the Constitution and EU law. Al-Haq welcomes Ireland on its renewed impetus to take tangible steps to uphold the rights of Palestinians and set an example for States the world-over on how to correct their trade relationship with Israel and comply with their international obligations. With a general election looming, it is imperative that the urgency of seeing the Bill transformed into enforceable remains a priority, and that other States, both within the EU and beyond, fulfil their legal obligations by introducing similar legislation.

The EU is Israel’s main trading partner, accounting for 28.8% of its trade in goods in 2022, with 31.9% of Israel’s imports coming from the EU and 25.6% of Israel’s exports going to the EU. Shockingly, these figures do not include trade with illegal Israeli settlements. Paradoxically, then, the EU both recognises that illegal settlements in the OPT are not Israeli territory but continues to fuel international crimes committed therein by maintaining trade ties with Israel and its unlawful settlements. The EU-Israel trade deal, regulated under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, does deny preferential treatment status to settlement goods and services, but does not prohibit them. The deal also includes a clause requiring that EU-Israel relations be “based on the respect for human rights and democratic principles” and that trade restrictions can be imposed if human rights are violated. Given Israel’s sustained record of violating Palestinian human rights, and persistent violations of fundamental principles of international law, which has worsened alarmingly in the past year, the EU-Israel trade deal can and must be suspended with immediate effect.

As it stands, the EU has shown a blatant disregard for the serious human rights abuses upon which the unlawful settlements are based, and the plethora of mass atrocities Israel is committing across Palestine, including the year-long live-streamed genocide in Gaza. Instead of sanctioning Israel and putting an end to its impunity, the EU is seeking ways to evade its responsibilities under international law. Alarmingly, and incorrectly, only three days after the issuance of the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion in July 2024, the director of the EU foreign service’s legal department advised the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, that the new Advisory Opinion does not require EU Member States to ban goods imported from Israeli settlements. Such a position risks furthering the EU’s complicity in Israel’s genocidal and settler-colonial apartheid related crimes. Earlier this year, Ireland, along with other EU countries, called to hold an Association Council with Israel to discuss the latter’s lack of compliance with its human rights obligations due its attacks on Gaza. This call remains unanswered, despite the ICJ’s finding of a plausible case of genocide committed by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza. This level of response, or lack thereof, does not nearly reflect the gravity of the situation and the urgent need to act. Without concrete and meaningful action, Israel will continue to perpetrate its escalating genocidal and colonial violence with impunity.

Al-Haq provides the following recommendations:

• The Irish government must prioritise and progress the Occupied Territories Bill in its Programme for Government.
• The Bill must be expanded to address the import of goods and services between Ireland and Occupying Powers, unlawfully present in occupied territory, and in such circumstances, prohibit all trade with the Occupying Power, and international companies that sustain and maintain the unlawful occupation, taking into consideration that many unlawfully present Occupying Powers are genocidal, settler-colonial, and apartheid regimes.
• The EU and its Member States must use its economic leverage to exert political and diplomatic pressure on Israel by suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement and ending all trade with Israel.
• The EU and its Member States, as well as all members of the international community, must adopt economic sanctions, including by suspending any and all trade and cooperation agreements with Israel, to ensure that Israel ceases its unlawful occupation, and its violations of Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), prohibiting racial segregation and apartheid.
• Each State must impose:
  • A burden of proof to establish that their conduct, including the payment of taxes or levies to Israel, does not assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation.
  • A two-way arms embargo on Israel including all arms, security, surveillance equipment, jet fuel, training and joint exercises, and stopping all export, import and transfer, including parts and components and other dual-use items, to and from Israel.
  • A comprehensive ban, underpinned by a rigorous regulatory regime, on companies and entities involved to any degree with the production, trade or marketing of Israeli goods and services that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation, including settlements products.
  • Targeted sanctions on physical and legal persons, Israeli and international, including corporations, institutions, and non-profit entities, complicit in Israel’s breaches of international law.
  • A ban on oil, gas and other energy agreements with Israel, where any part of the agreement includes transit and pipelines, and infrastructure located in, or contiguous with the OPT, including its territorial waters, contiguous zone, and Exclusive Economic Zone.
  • Punitive mechanisms sufficient to effectively halt and deter trade and investments by governmental and national companies with Israeli companies or banks that are contributing to maintain Israel’s unlawful occupation.