Israeli forces raze West Bank homes as EU weighs ban on settlement goods

Pogroms in the occupied West Bank continue, with Israeli forces demolishing homes in Birzeit and Nablus, and settlers attacking Palestinians.

Israeli forces have demolished more Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, as settlers attacked residents of the village of Burqa in an escalation of violence ahead of Israeli elections in October.

The pogroms on Monday came as Ireland pushes for sanctions on goods from illegal Israeli settlements at an informal meeting of European Union ministers this week.

In the town of Birzet, north of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers demolished two residential buildings, saying they lacked the required building permits, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

In Nablus, Israeli forces used a bulldozer to raze a two-storey house and a three-storey building under construction.

And in Burqa, east of Ramallah, video verified by Al Jazeera showed a large group of settlers raiding the village and attacking Palestinians. One clip showed settlers and Palestinians throwing stones at each other.

Witnesses said the settlers entered the village from several directions on Monday night before assaulting residents, trying to set cars alight and stealing livestock.

The United Nations human rights office said last month that settler violence was at an “all-time high”, with new settlements approved and settlers and the Israeli army often acting together against Palestinian communities.

Settler violence and settlement expansion are on the agenda of a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers in Ireland beginning on Tuesday.

Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU and has moved to ban settlement goods itself, wants member states to act together.

The talks are expected to build on discussions in Brussels in July, based on a confidential European Commission paper floating three options, including an import licensing system, prohibitive tariffs or an outright ban, according to Reuters news agency.

EU rules require goods from illegal West Bank settlements to be labelled as originating in the occupied territory rather than Israel. But the bloc has not banned trade with the settlements, leaving that to individual states.

Decisions on the policy have long been difficult for the 27 member countries, which are deeply divided over Israel and Palestine.

Neale Richmond, an Irish minister of state, said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and its failure to stop settler violence breached international law.

“We see certain EU politicians or European politicians supportive not just of the actions of settlers and settler violence, but of this Israeli government who are supporting them,” he said. “And we cannot be complicit in the actions of this Israeli government, which more broadly is genocidal.”