108 tons of spoiled goods seized in W. Bank: Ministry

RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Ramallah-based Palestinian unity government’s National Economy Ministry has said that it seized 108 tons of spoiled products – which were manufactured on Jewish settlements – in the Israeli-occupied West Bank last month.

“The spoiled products, seized by consumer protection units, included food, tobacco, beverages and vegetable and animal oil,” the ministry said in a Monday statement.

Spoiled products, it added, had also included “waxes, crude oil, chemical materials and manufactured goods, in addition to transportation equipment.”

According to the ministry, the tainted products – worth a total of some 133.5 million Israeli shekels (roughly $35 million) – were smuggled into Palestinian villages in the West Bank from nearby Jewish-only settlements.

From there they were reportedly taken to Palestinian cities and towns without being detected by Palestinian police and customs officers.

Last year, more than 700 tons of spoiled goods – which also came mostly from Jewish settlements in the West Bank – were found in nearby Palestinian markets, according to Palestinian officials.    

In 2010, the Palestinian authorities issued a law prohibiting the purchase of all products manufactured on Jewish settlements.