Imports from Occupied Palestinian Territories rise as pressure mounts to pass Occupied Territories Bill

Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in Gaza city on Sunday. Irish exports to the Occupied Territories have been in continuous decline. Photo: AP/Jehad Alshrafi

The value of goods imported by Ireland from the Occupied Palestinian Territories rose to over €396,000 in the first nine months of 2025.

This is up from €214,000 for the entire year of 2024. The level of goods exported from Ireland to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, however, fell from €271,700 in 2024 to €26,300 between January and September of 2025.

It comes as pressure continues to mount on the Government to pass the Occupied Territories Bill, following repeated failures to pass legislation last year. During the 2024 general election, both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil vowed to prioritise the bill.

While then-foreign affairs and trade minister Simon Harris brought legislation to Cabinet last June that would ban imports from the Occupied Palestinian Territories, this has yet to be progressed. The opposition has also criticised suggestions that the ban would only include goods and not services.

The Government has repeatedly stated that, while it would assess a ban on services, it would be difficult to implement.

New figures provided to Fine Gael TD for Dún Laoghaire, Barry Ward, now show imports from the Occupied Palestinian Territories to Ireland increased in the first nine months of 2025.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Between January and September, goods worth €396,100 were imported. This was up from €214,200 in the full 12 months of 2024 and €90,500 in 2023. It is also higher than imports in 2022 and 2021, which stood at €199,300 and €117,000, respectively.

Irish exports to the Occupied Territories have, however, been in continuous decline. Between January and September 2025, goods worth €26,300 were exported. In 2024, exports stood at €271,700, down from €2.2m in 2023 and €2.4m in 2022.

Goods exported to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in the first nine months of last year included chemicals and related products (€13,180), machinery and transport equipment (€8,560), and miscellaneous manufactured articles (€4,550).

Mr Ward told the Irish Examiner that it is surprising that trade is increasing when people know that it will soon be illegal. “We know this legislation is coming. There's repeated commitments from the Government to that effect,” he said.

If you're a company, I would have thought you should be dialling down your activity with the OPT, not up.

“The notion that trade is increasing is a worrying trend because it shows the companies are not preparing for the reality of the situation, quite apart from the moral imperative and the commonsensical element to it.

“It seems really strange to me that anybody is ramping up trade to the OPT in circumstances where the Government's given a clear indication that this will soon be illegal.”

Social Democrats senator Patricia Stephenson stated that the data underlines the importance of passing the Occupied Territories Bill (OTB).

The party’s foreign affairs spokesperson also expressed concerns about the exclusion of services from the legislation.

“The fact that the importation of goods from the illegally occupied Palestinian territories has increased since 2023 further demonstrates why the OTB needs to be enacted in Ireland,” she said.

“By importing goods from the OPT, we are providing economic support to the settlements and contributing to their continuation.

“Goods only make up about 30% of the trade between Ireland and Israel, which is why the inclusion of services is so crucial in the OTB.

The ICJ ruling in 2024 made it explicitly clear, the settlements are illegal, and Ireland is legally obligated to end all trade and economic support for those settlements. This isn't an optional extra, it's our obligation under international law.

Additional figures provided to Mr Ward by Mary Butler, minister of state in the Department of the Taoiseach, confirmed that in the first nine months of 2025, goods worth €2.6bn were imported from Israel, while exports stood at €1bn. 

The value of imports fell from €3.8bn in 2024 and €3.6bn in 2023. Most of the money spent on Israeli imports went towards machinery and transport equipment, with €2.5bn spent in the first nine months of 2025.