Twelve Western Governments Confirm Plans to Restrict Trade With Israeli Settlements
France, the UK, Canada and nine other states say they intend to impose national controls on commerce with settlements the UN and international courts consider illegal.
Source: Anadolu Agency English · published September 8, 2026
Twelve governments have told Anadolu Agency they intend to impose national restrictions on trade with Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land.
The list, as reported by the Turkish state wire service, includes France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden. The report describes each country as having confirmed the intention to act, though it does not detail the legal mechanism, timeline, or scope of goods that would be covered in any individual country's plan.
Settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are considered illegal under international law by the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and most of the international community. Israel disputes that characterization and continues to expand settlement construction and infrastructure across the territory.
France, UK, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden confirm intention to impose national restrictions
That line, drawn from Anadolu Agency's own framing of the story, is the extent of the confirmed record as of this writing. The agency's report does not include direct quotations from officials in the twelve countries, nor does it specify whether the restrictions would apply to imports, exports, financial services, labeling requirements, or some combination of measures. It is also unclear from the available reporting whether the twelve countries are moving in coordination or announcing separate national measures that happen to converge on the same target.
What is established is the list of governments and the stated intent. Trade with settlements has been a recurring flashpoint in European and Canadian policy toward Israel for years, with the European Union previously requiring labeling of settlement-origin goods and various court rulings and advisory opinions treating settlement products as distinct from goods originating in Israel proper. A coordinated move by twelve states to restrict that trade would mark one of the more concrete multilateral steps taken against the settlement economy in recent memory, though the practical weight of the announcement depends on details not yet in the public record.
Occupation Watch will update this file as individual governments publish the specific legal instruments, effective dates, and enforcement provisions of their restrictions.
Sources & Documentation
- 11 European countries plus Canada vow restrictions on trade with illegal Israeli settlements — Anadolu AgencyPrimary source; article text limited to headline and country list at time of writing
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