PARIS / PNN / France will end trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, joining 11 other countries that have made similar commitments, the French government said, citing the deteriorating situation in the West Bank.

France said the West Bank was on the brink of an explosion amid continued settlement expansion in violation of international law and a rise in violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians, including acts of terrorism that have also been condemned by Israeli authorities.

The French government said the situation was seriously undermining the dignity of the Palestinian people, threatening Israel’s security — to which France said it remained firmly committed — and weakening the prospects for a two-state solution, which it described as the only alternative to a permanent state of war.

“No lasting peace is possible in the Middle East without Israel’s security being strictly guaranteed,” France said.

At the same time, France said the Oct. 7, 2023, attack carried out by Hamas, which it described as the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust and in which more than 50 French citizens were killed, remains an “immense, indelible wound” that must not be minimised or relativised.

France called on Israeli authorities to urgently end illegal settlement expansion and the violence accompanying it, saying the situation threatens both Palestinians and Israelis.

“France cannot, through its trade, support a situation that threatens the security of Israelis and Palestinians alike, as well as peace and stability in the region,” the French government said.

It also called on Europe to uphold the same principle.