Middle East Desk Report
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian government declared that its decision to ban Israeli products into its market will come into effect at noon on Wednesday.
Palestinian officials said that the ban came in response to Israel’s ban on Palestinian vegetable produce from its markets last week, and that they hope it will boost the local agricultural sector.
The ban includes the import of fruits and vegetables as well as bottled water and soft drinks.
However, Israeli authorities on Wednesday prevented shipments of dates and herbs from passing through checkpoints to get to Israeli ports for export, in an apparently retaliatory move.
Spokesperson of the Palestinian Economy Ministry Azmi Abdelrahman said this decision could lead to significant losses on the Israeli side, and that is probably why Israeli authorities are obstructing export of Palestinian dates and herbs.
“The Israeli move against Palestinian exporters violates the Paris Protocol that states Palestinian exporters have the right to use Israeli ports freely,” said Abdelrahman.
The Paris Protocol is an economic treaty reached in 1995 between Palestine and Israel to govern the economic relations between the two sides.
Head of Palestinian Palms and Dates Council Ibrahim Ide’iq confirmed to Xinhua that the Israeli authorities on checkpoints have sent back at least eight trucks of date shipments that were on their way to be exported to different countries, including the United States and Turkey.
“We were not officially informed of the ban on our exports,” Ide’iq said. “Our staff were only told that we are banned from our right to export verbally, and this could have serious repercussions on our companies.”
