Occupied Territories Bill passed but fight for full settlement trade ban continues
After years of campaigning, both houses of the Irish parliament (Dáil and Seanad) finally passed legislation to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements – a key demand for Christian Aid Ireland and our partners for well over a decade. The Bill was then signed into law by the President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly, on July 23rd. This is a significant step forward in our push for justice in Israel and Palestine, in which Christian Aid Ireland played a key role.
Settlement expansion, trading away peace
Israeli settlements are a major driver of poverty and injustice in Palestine. What happens in practice is essentially a process of displacement and seizure of land: Palestinian families are forcibly driven from their homes, fertile farming land is seized, and Israeli settlements are built illegally in their place. Displaced communities are driven into ever shrinking enclaves, greatly reducing the space available to farm, work, move and access basic necessities of life like water. Palestinians are left dependent on aid and support from the international community, sustaining injustice.
Christian Aid has long campaigned against this. In 2012 we and other faith-based organisations published ‘Trading Away Peace’, which set out the devastating impact of settlement expansion on the ground and how trade from the UK, Ireland and the EU was helping to sustain it. Last year, with a coalition of 80+ international organisations, we published further research showing how this economic support had only increased and renewing our call for a ban on trade with the settlements.
Illegality and obligations to act
The world’s highest courts and legal institutions, including the UN’s main judicial body the International Court of Justice (ICJ), have repeatedly affirmed that the settlements are totally illegal. They violate the Fourth Geneva Convention and constitute a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In 2024, the ICJ held that this illegality brings with it clear consequences for the international community. At an absolute minimum, all states including Ireland and the UK, are obliged not to provide any economic, trade or investment support for the settlements.
In 2018, Christian Aid Ireland played a key role in drafting and progressing in Parliament the Occupied Territories Bill, legislation tabled by Independent Senator Frances Black, which would have banned this trade. The Irish Government agreed with the policy in principle but despite overwhelming votes in favour in Parliament refused to pass it for eight years, citing wafer-thin legal concerns and diplomatic worries.
The 2024 ICJ Advisory Opinion, combined with huge public pressure and outrage over the devastation being wrought by Israel in Gaza, gave the Irish government an off-ramp, and Christian Aid Ireland kept up the pressure by leading a coalition of more than 40 Irish and international NGO’s in pushing for a full trade ban to be adopted.
Legislation passed – but more to do
The legislation passed just before the summer recess is a significant step forward, but it’s also more limited than the original Occupied Territories Bill tabled in 2018. The Government version of the legislation solely bans trade in physical goods, like fruit and vegetables, but crucially omits trade in services like tech, tourism, IT and finance - which make up about 70% of Ireland’s external trade. US multinationals make up an important portion of this, and significant pressure was brought to bear to exempt them.
The Irish Government has accepted however that a complete, comprehensive ban is required under international law. Christian Aid will continue to campaign for legislation that would ban both trade in goods and services with the illegal Israeli settlements and come September when parliament returns from recess, we will be backing a new Bill being put forward to do exactly that.
Further action
It’s also important to note that this recent hard fought for win on the Occupied Territories Bill is not the end of the road, nor wider efforts to ban trade with the illegal Israeli settlements.
This move at national level has also helped to progress a potential EU-wide ban which could have a far bigger impact. Though the Irish ban is only partial and a first step towards ending all economic support for the illegal settlement enterprise, perhaps more important is the sense that the dominos are beginning to fall at European level.
When the Occupied Territories Bill was first tabled in 2018, Ireland was the only country in Europe with legislation of this nature. Today, several European countries including Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway have all either passed or tabled similar bans, and we're now close to a majority of at least 19 EU Member States supporting EU-wide action. The EU is Israel's biggest trading partner, and a comprehensive ban could really have an impact for the communities we work with on the ground.
There is also some movement in the UK. Sir Chris Bryant, who was recently appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, indicated that the UK government is also examining options for a potential trade ban.
Christian Aid will continue to work with our local partners to push for action on trade with illegal Israeli settlements as part of our work for justice in Palestine and Israel.
