Ireland is set to become the first European Union country to introduce legislation banning trade with Israeli businesses operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The proposed bill, expected to be unveiled this week, will target goods rather than services, as the Irish government has said it lacks the legal framework to restrict services such as Airbnb rentals.
According to the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris said the measure is a response to what he described as Israel’s escalating “war crimes” in Gaza.
Harris will initiate the drafting process on Tuesday, just days after a majority of EU member states voted to reconsider the bloc’s trade agreement with Israel.
The move comes amid legal debate over whether the legislation could also extend to services. “It’s clear that war crimes are being committed, children are starving, and food is being used as a weapon of war,” Harris told the Financial Times. “The world has not done enough—and we must act.”
Ireland currently imports only a minimal amount of goods from Israeli businesses based in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Still, the Dublin government—having recognized the state of Palestine last year alongside Spain and Norway—hopes to inspire other EU nations to follow suit.
“There’s never been a targeted trade measure like this at EU level,” said Conor O’Neill, head of policy and advocacy at Christian Aid Ireland.
O’Neill, who drafted a similar 2018 bill backed by an independent senator, said the key question now is whether the government will impose a blanket ban on all trade with illegal settlements—including goods like dates and oranges, and services like tourism and IT.
Palestinian products from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, such as Zaytoun olive oil, would be exempt under the legislation.
The bill could also have implications for Airbnb, potentially barring the platform from listing properties in the settlements. Because the U.S.-based company’s European headquarters located in Dublin, as it falls under Irish jurisdiction.
Last year, the International Court of Justice urged UN members to prevent business and investment that supports Israel’s decades-long occupation.
Harris hopes the legislation will move to parliamentary review in June. “We want to do something with real impact,” he said. “But collective action from the European Union would be far more powerful.”
