11 Jan 2021; MEMO: The first shipment from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank were exported to the UAE yesterday, local media reported.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the shipment included olive oil and honey from the Tura Winery in the Rehelim settlement and Paradise Honey in the Hermesh settlement.
"This is a historic day for Samaria [the occupied West Bank] and the entire State of Israel," Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan was reported by the Jerusalem Post saying.
On 10 December, Dagan wrote on his Facebook page that he had signed four direct export deals between settlements in the occupied West Bank and companies in the UAE.
Slamming the move, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem said the move "is tantamount to encouraging Zionist settlement building on the occupied Palestinian lands."
All settlements are considered illegal by international law, with the UN and other international bodies repeatedly stressing that they hinder the peace process.
