Human rights organizations urge French lawmakers to pass a law banning settlement products

Thirteen non-governmental organizations on Thursday called on French lawmakers to pass a bill banning the import and sale of products from settlements in the occupied West Bank. The text is supported by over a hundred lawmakers from eight parliamentary blocs and was approved in the relevant committee, with a plenary debate scheduled for November 19. The bill includes a ban on importing, purchasing, or selling products originating from settlements in the West Bank. The organizations, including the French branch of Amnesty International, Oxfam France, and the Human Rights League, urged the government to explicitly support the text, following statements made by Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot two months ago in which he affirmed that France intends to ban such commercial dealings. Cécile Duflot, Executive Director of Oxfam France, said: "Trade with settlements hides a human reality that cannot be ignored: the lives of Palestinians gradually suffocated by occupation and settlement." Meanwhile, the President of the Human Rights League stated that "lawmakers face an easy choice: either for international law or against it." The organizations call on the executive branch to give instructions to the parliamentary majority to vote in favor of the text, expressing regret that diplomatic recognition of the State of Palestine has not been accompanied by any concrete measures.