This report lays bare the brutality of life under Israel’s illegal occupation since 1967: settler violence, the theft of over 2,000 km² of land, control of water, and the suffocation of the Palestinian economy.
New settlement report backs demand to include services in Occupied Territories Bill
The ‘Stop Trade with Settlements’ report was published today by an alliance of more than 80 international civil society organisations, including Oxfam and Christian Aid.
Settlement report marks the relaunch of Campaign to Pass the Occupied Territories Bill as Dáil resumes
Government decision on whether to include services in Bill due this autumn
Dublin launch of report by Senator Frances Black, Oxfam Ireland & Christian Aid Ireland today
A major new report reveals the extent to which trade with illegal Israeli settlements by major EU companies, including those trading in services, are directly contributing to the humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory. Today's report reaffirms the urgent need for services as well as goods to be included in the final version of the Occupied Territories Bill, with a decision due from the Government in early Autumn, as well as action at EU level.
The ‘Stop Trade with Settlements’ report, published today by an alliance of more than 80 international civil society organisations, including Oxfam and Christian Aid, demonstrates how illegal trade is directly contributing to the oppression, dispossession and impoverishment of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The report sets out how the need to end trade in services is not limited to Ireland but extends right across the EU. It includes major companies trading in services such as Spanish company eDreams Odigeo, one of the biggest travel companies in the world, which offers hotels and accommodation in illegal Israeli settlements, as well as the German travel conglomerate TUI, which offers holiday tours. Foreign banks BNP Paribas, HSBC and Barclays also continue to finance illegal settlement trade through loans and financial support.
The new report also marks the relaunch of the Campaign to Pass the Occupied Territories Bill and is being published in the lead up to the resumption of the Dáil on Wednesday. The report’s findings add weight to the Campaign’s demands for the final version of the Bill to include a ban on trade in both services as well as goods with illegal Israeli settlements, a move which was also ‘strongly recommended’ by the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs & Trade Committee in July. Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said a decision on including services in the Occupied Territories Bill will be made this Autumn.
A ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements has garnered increasing attention at the EU level. In June, nine EU member states including Ireland formally wrote to the European Commission pushing for an EU-wide ban, on both goods and services. In July, EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas presented an ‘options paper’ for potential actions, which recognised for the first time that individual or groups of EU member states may introduce bans at the national level. In August, Slovenia became the first EU member state to implement a ban. In September, the Belgian Government agreed a ban, with legislation tabled in the Belgian parliament covering both goods and services and Spain also announced a ban on trade from illegal Israeli settlements.
The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner accounting for 32% of overall trade, amounting to €42 billion a year, including up to €350 million worth of goods annually from Israeli settlements. The report also recommends the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement until Israel fully complies with human rights obligations of the agreement.
The ‘Stop Trade with Settlements’ report will be officially launched today at 10am by Senator Frances Black at an in-person event at the National University of Ireland in Dublin along with Oxfam Ireland, Christian Aid Ireland and other members of the Campaign to Pass the Occupied Territories Bill.
"This report lays bare the brutality of life under Israel’s illegal occupation since 1967: settler violence, the theft of over 2,000 km² of land, control of water, and the suffocation of the Palestinian economy. The relentless expansion of settlements erodes the very possibility of the Palestinian state recognised by Ireland last year. Israeli authorities have ordered one million Gazans to abandon Gaza City or face annihilation. In just two years, more than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed, while hundreds die of starvation in a deliberate, man-made famine. Trade with illegal settlements does not merely breach international law — it bankrolls atrocity and sustains an economy of genocide. The Irish Government must hold its resolve against economic interests that seek to weaken its response. The EU must find the unity this moment demands and fully suspend its trade agreement with Israel. The Irish people refuse to be complicit in illegal occupation. If ever there was a time for human life and survival to outweigh short-term economic considerations, it is now."
— Jim Clarken, CEO of Oxfam Ireland
Conor O’Neill, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Christian Aid Ireland and spokesperson for the Campaign to Pass the Occupied Territories Bill, said:
“This research shows the seriousness of the situation in the West Bank, but also the potential for leadership. Since the Dáil went into recess in July, three more EU states have moved ahead on this. Ireland has gone from being the likely first European country to ban trade with Israel’s illegal settlements, to possibly the fourth. This is an encouraging sign, but also shows the real risk of us setting the bar too low. We have a crucial opportunity to get this right and ensure that an emerging new EU standard is effective. That means doing what the ICJ said is required, and what the Dáil Foreign Affairs Committee strongly supported: full ban on all trade with the settlements, both goods and services. Anything less would be inconsistent with international law and would let the banks, tech and tourism companies profiting from occupation off the hook.”
Senator Frances Black, who tabled the original Occupied Territories Bill, said:
“We have been debating this legislation for seven long years, and in that time the situation in Palestine has rapidly deteriorated. We’re now facing into the devastating reality of a live-streamed genocide in Gaza. The time for talk is over. EU states, including Ireland, must finally act. I’m calling on the Irish Government to listen to the clear recommendations of the Dáil Foreign Affairs Committee, to the ICJ, and to the people of this country and to finally pass the full Occupied Territories Bill, including services. We have three months now of this Oireachtas term, there are no excuses not to finally get this over the line.”
ENDS
To register to attend the Dublin launch event or for media enquires, contact:
42% of the West Bank is controlled by Israeli settlements.
Nearly 900 military checkpoints restrict Palestinian movement.
Over 700,000 Israeli settlers live in occupied Palestinian territory.
2,000 km² of Palestinian land have been confiscated since 1967.
US $50 billion: Estimated cost of occupation to the Palestinian economy (2000–2020).
Over 12,000 Palestinian structures destroyed since 2009.
20,000+ people forcibly displaced in the West Bank since January 2025.
800+ physical obstacles restrict Palestinian movement in the West Bank.
In2023, Israel approved30,682 new housing unitsin the West Bank - a180% increaseover five years.
59 new settler outpostswere established in 2024 alone -doublingthe previous 30-year record.
30% of the West Bankis inaccessible to Palestinians due to military closures and settlement infrastructure.
6,500 Palestinian women work in settlements under exploitative conditions due to economic coercion.
Israel’s settlement budget exceeds $1.2 billion.
800,000+ olive trees uprooted since 1967.
EU imports 15x more from illegal settlements than from Palestinian producers.
€350 million/year: Estimated EU imports from settlement-based companies.
The ‘Stop Trade with Settlements’ report will be launched at 10.00am Monday 15 September at The National University of Ireland, 49 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
The July 2024 International Court of Justice ruling made it clear that all states are obliged under international law to end all trade with the illegal Israeli settlements, and that governments which fail to do so are complicit in the maintenance and expansion of the settlements.
Israel’s control of the Occupied Palestinian Territory costs the Palestinian economy billions of dollars a year.
"This report lays bare the brutality of life under Israel’s illegal occupation since 1967: settler violence, the theft of over 2,000 km² of land, control of water, and the suffocation of the Palestinian economy. The relentless expansion of settlements erodes the very possibility of the Palestinian state recognised by Ireland last year. Israeli authorities have ordered one million Gazans to abandon Gaza City or face annihilation. In just two years, more than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed, while hundreds die of starvation in a deliberate, man-made famine. Trade with illegal settlements does not merely breach international law — it bankrolls atrocity and sustains an economy of genocide. The Irish Government must hold its resolve against economic interests that seek to weaken its response. The EU must find the unity this moment demands and fully suspend its trade agreement with Israel. The Irish people refuse to be complicit in illegal occupation. If ever there was a time for human life and survival to outweigh short-term economic considerations, it is now."
