McEntee says momentum is behind EU-wide ban on trade with occupied territories

Foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee said such a ban would be 'more possible' than a complete suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement

Foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee. File picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee has said there is momentum to push for an EU-wide ban on trade with Israeli-occupied territories as Ireland prepares to assume the EU presidency.

Ireland will take on one of the EU’s most influential roles when it assumes the presidency of the Council of the European Union from Wednesday, and Ms McEntee says the position will allow for greater focus on Israeli actions.

Her remarks come after an independent UN report found last week that Israel continues to commit genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza.

Ms McEntee said it is “more possible” to secure an agreement to ban trade with illegally occupied territories rather than secure a complete suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the primary legal framework that governs political, diplomatic, and trade relations between the European Union and Israel. Ms McEntee said: 

There is perhaps a more reluctant view from some member states to move on anything to do with the Association Agreement. 

“Whereas with the occupied territories ... international law is very clear, these are illegally occupied territories. I do get a sense from speaking to some colleagues that they would be more likely to move on this than they would the Association Agreement.”

Ms McEntee said positions had “completely shifted” at EU level on the Israel-Palestine situation.

“Even the countries that haven’t been vocal in support of sanctions against Israel... none of them are happy. No matter who I speak to, there’s nobody happy with what’s happening on the ground, or the fact that the humanitarian situation hasn’t improved in Gaza. It’s getting worse.”

Ireland to call for EU vote

Despite opposition from some EU member states to suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, Ms McEntee said Ireland would advocate for a vote on the matter as “soon as possible” and call for an outright ban, beyond a mere suspension of the trade deal.

She said the Government would also pass its revised version of the Occupied Territories Bill before the summer recess, banning the import of goods from occupied Palestinian lands in the West Bank.

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However, controversially, the bill does not ban the trading of services from the occupied territories.

The UN commission said last week that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed during the war, including after a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025. It said this was a key element in establishing genocidal intent by Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza.

Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union begins on Wednesday and will last for six months, with meetings of ministers and senior leaders to take place across the country.

Ms McEntee said Ireland would use its presidency to continue to focus on the war in Ukraine, while also focusing on the EU’s relationship with China.

• Tadgh McNally, Political Reporter