Belgium to recognise Palestinian state, impose sanctions on Israel
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot has announced his country will recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, and is imposing sanctions on Israel.
Prevot said in a post on X the sanctions included a ban on the import of products from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, “a review of public procurement policies with Israeli companies” and the designation of two Israeli government ministers and “several violent settlers” as persona non grata in Belgium.
He added that the recognition would only be formalised by royal decree once the last captive has been released from Gaza and “Hamas no longer has any role in managing Palestine.”
So they're not going to recognize a Palestinian state this month. It will take a lot longer for a new government to replace the current one. Those sanctions are also mostly meaningless, no sanctions on Israel, not even words of an arms embargo.
https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-country/isr/partner/bel
https://11.be/en/belgian-arms-trade-policy-to-israel-qa
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/08/07/belgian-court-rules-flanders-government-should-stop-transit-of-military-equipment-to-israe
It is clear all those former colonial powers are not in it to stop this colonial genocide, only as far as to promote plausible deniability of complicity.
Mostly empty words for virtue signalling and distraction.
‘South Africa-style sanctions’ needed against Israel alongside recognition of Palestinian state
Moves by Belgium and other countries to recognise Palestinian statehood are a significant step in the right direction but need to be accompanied by further tangible actions to isolate Israel and help Palestinians, an academic says.
Tamer Qarmout, associate professor at the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that tough, comprehensive sanctions on Israel were required – as well as further pressure on Washington – “especially when we have this perfect alignment between the American administration and the Israeli government”.
“We want something similar to the South African model when the apartheid regime was isolated by international sanctions,” he said. “If this does not happen immediately after these recognitions, I’m afraid time is not on the Palestinians’ side.”
eDreams to keep blocking accommodation listings in Israeli-occupied West Bank
Spanish travel company eDreams ODIGEO has withdrawn and will continue to block listings of accommodation in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, its chief financial officer says.
David Elizaga told the Reuters news agency that the company has always had a policy of not offering services in the illegal settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories, but said some listings automatically appeared on its website after owners uploaded them on platforms.
The issue came to the fore at an Annual General Meeting in July that attracted pro-Palestinian protests against the company after it was the only Spanish firm named on the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights’ list, published in 2023.
Elizaga said the company activated location screenings to filter out apartments and hotels offered in the illegal settlements.
In addition to its contact with the United Nations, eDreams has been in touch with NGOs and local organisations to ensure it does not again appear in lists of companies that provide “services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements”.
