EU report confirms accelerated West Bank annexation as member states enact unilateral trade bans

The European External Action Service (EEAS) published its 2025 annual report on 17 July 2026, documenting an accelerated expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of a broader project leading to de facto annexation. The report identifies that in 2025, Israel approved 54 new official settlements and 86 new outposts, with plans for 63,311 housing units across the territory.

In response to these developments, the EU imposed sanctions on four entities and three individuals on 28 May 2026. Concurrently, member states have enacted or planned national measures to restrict trade with these settlements. Ireland enacted legislation on 23 July 2026 to ban settlement imports, while Belgium approved a draft royal decree on 18 July 2026 to subject goods to a special licensing regime. The Netherlands issued an economic sanctions decision on 21 July 2026, which will take effect on 22 September 2026.

The EEAS report describes the settlement construction as an integrated political project combining land confiscation, legalisation of outposts, and changes to governance systems. It notes that the logical outcome of this expansion is the fragmentation of the West Bank, severing its northern and southern parts and isolating East Jerusalem. This geographic fragmentation is described as making the establishment of a viable Palestinian state highly improbable.

European politicians have long endorsed the two-state solution as the basis for ending the conflict, yet the report exposes the extent of violations in the West Bank where armed resistance is not comparable in scale to that in Gaza. The number of settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is approaching 800,000, integrated through extensive infrastructure into the institutional architecture of the occupation.

An opinion piece published alongside the report argues that current EU measures are disproportionate and insufficient. It calls for a unified EU-wide ban on trade with settlements under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, citing a European Citizens’ Initiative that gathered approximately 1.3 million signatures by 15 July 2026. The article suggests that rebuilding the Palestine Liberation Organization and holding elections for the Palestinian National Council is necessary to create a representative leadership capable of leveraging European public opinion.