Forty countries have proposed a broad package of sanctions against Israel, including an arms embargo and travel controls, to oppose what they call the "de facto annexation" of the West Bank.
According to the co-chairs' statement, the group presented these measures in response to an "unprecedented acceleration" of settlement policies, which constitute a "direct attack" on the Palestinians' right to self-determination.
Among the proposed enforcement tools is a declaration requirement for travelers holding Israeli documents, subjecting those who have served in the military to a “secondary check at entry points” under war crimes inadmissibility rules.
The states also demanded a complete ban on the import of products from the settlements and a ban on the “transfer, transit or transport of arms” and military fuel.
The statement stressed that governments face a clear choice between "complicity or respect for the law", adding that "history will judge us not by the speeches we made, but by the actions we took".
The statement said the meeting co-chaired by South Africa and Colombia is the largest gathering of the Hague Group since its establishment in 2025.
Israel has intensified operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the launch of the military campaign in Gaza in October 2023. Palestinians see this escalation, including killings, arrests, displacements, and settlement expansion, as a step toward formal annexation of the territory.
In a historic opinion in July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
