PARIS (AP) — France is warning companies trading with Israeli settlers in the West Bank of the legal risks stemming from doing business in the settlements that it says are “illegal under international law.”
A statement posted on the foreign ministry website this week says “financial transactions, investments, purchases and other economic activities in the settlements or benefiting them carry legal and economic risks connected to the settlements being, according to international law, built on occupied land.”
The statement also urges anyone considering doing business in the settlements to obtain appropriate legal advice before proceeding.
The warning comes amid growing international impatience with the settlements, which the U.S. and European Union have long said are an obstacle to peace between Israel and Palestine.
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