Belgium to Recognize Palestine, Sanction Israel

DID Press: Maxime Prévot, Belgium’s Foreign Minister, announced the country will formally recognize the State of Palestine at the upcoming UN General Assembly session. The decision comes in response to the “humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza” and what Belgium describes as Israel’s violations of international law.

At the same time, Brussels will implement strict sanctions, including a ban on imports from Israeli settlements and measures targeting hardline officials on both sides.

Belgium has said that the goal of the actions is to pressure Israel to comply with international law.

With this move, Belgium joins several other European countries that have recently taken similar steps.