A timeline of the Occupied Palestinian Territory bill

For almost a decade, potential new laws focussing on Ireland's economic relationship with Israel and the occupied territories in Palestine have been the subject of increasingly intense political and social debate here.

Already firmly held views became further entrenched after the 7 October 2023, attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the subsequent and ongoing attacks by Israel on Gaza, Lebanon and elsewhere.

Much of the debate in Ireland has focussed on whether goods and services should be included in the long-promised law, as well as the potential impact on jobs and the Irish economy if there is a backlash from Israeli and US companies.

Similar moves are taking place in the EU due to potential changes to the EU-Israel partnership agreement.

But with the Irish bill - which has been renamed the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) bill 2026 - now at the report and final stage of the Dáil and Seanad, it is likely to become law before the Oireachtas summer recess on 16 July, putting it rather than the EU discussion firmly back in the spotlight.

Here is a timeline of the five key moments of the Irish bill so far:

2018

Independent senator Frances Black drafts the original version of the potential legislation.

Her Occupied Territories Bill calls for Israeli goods and services from the occupied territories in Palestine to be banned in Ireland.

Explaining her reasoning at the time, she likens the potential bill to the Dunnes Stores' workers campaign in the early 1980s against handling goods from what was then apartheid South Africa.

Between 2018 and 2019 the bill passes votes in both the Dail and Seanad, but is questioned by the then-government over certain legal practicalities relating to it.

July 2024

The International Court of Justice issues an advisory opinion concluding that Israel's continuing occupation of Palestinian territories, and its actions in Gaza and the West Bank, violate international law.

This conclusion, which is mirrored by a further advisory opinion a year later, puts renewed focus on both the bill and the EU-Israel Partnership Agreement.

While the Irish bill is slowly moving forward, Government sources also indicate that it may be more effective to work as part of a wider EU move on the situation.

November 2024

After a number of delays and increasing focus on the bill due to the 7 October 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and the subsequent response by the Israeli military, the Government makes a number of commitments to move the bill forward.

However, by the November 2024 General Election further delays had occurred, in what some opposition TDs claimed was in part due to potential pressure from US companies in Ireland and the return of Donald Trump as US president.

This is rejected by the coalition, which in its post-General Election Programme for Government said it will "progress legislation prohibiting goods from occupied Palestinian territories".

2025

In summer 2025 the cross-party Oireachas foreign affairs committee publishes a report into the situation after holding meetings with a number of experts in the area.

Its non-binding conclusions include the suggestion that both goods and services should be included in the final Government bill.

The coalition responds by acknowledging the committee's non-binding report, but also noting that its own legal advice is that the bill may be the subject of significant legal appeals if services are included.

This is over the following months a source of significant disagreement with the opposition and with Green Party leader and coalition member before the 2024 general election, Roderic O'Gorman, who argues that both goods and services should be included.

2025 to today

Increasing pressure is placed on both Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris at home, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, to take significant action against Israel over the situation in Palestine, Lebanon and the occupied territories.

This includes calls for a suspension of the EU-Israel Partnership Agreement and for the passing of the bill in Ireland to ban both goods and services.

In Ireland, a disputed Government version of the original bill - which does not include a ban on services - passes the final report stage in the Dáil on Tuesday 7 July 2026, without a vote, and despite opposition parties calling for services to be included.

It will now be debated at its final stage in the Seanad next week and, if passed, will become law in the subsequent days.