06/05/24 (Agence Europe) – On Monday 6 May, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called for a ban on imports of products from the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, including dates and olive oil. Believing that Belgium would have “no influence” if it implemented this measure on its own, he explained in the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws and on VRT radio that his country had been taking steps for several weeks “to see how we can at least have a large group of countries ready to take this step”. In his view, at a time of escalating violence in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, it is “difficult for European countries to say that we will continue with business as usual”. Under European law, products from settlements imported into the EU must be labelled as such. (CG)