Ireland first EU state to declare Israeli settlements 'annexation'

Palestinian demonstrators duck for cover from teargas fired by Israeli forces during clashes near the Jewish settlement of Beit El near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Picture: Getty

Ireland has become the first EU country to declare that Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory amounts to illegal de facto annexation, after a Dáil motion received cross-party support.

The motion also condemns the displacement of the protected Palestinian population and states that the expansion of Israeli settlements over decades represents a flagrant violation of international law.