The recent Madrid summit saw foreign ministers from Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the European Union gather with one goal, from words to actions, the UN has urged Netanyahu to return to the two-state solution with Palestine. Still, this goal has not been achieved yet because Israel persists in establishing new archives of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, which are in blatant violation of international law and undermine any efforts toward the promotion of peace in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Since 1967, Israel has conducted an extensive settlement undertaking that the International Court of Justice considers illegal regarding the Palestinian territory. They publicly remove the possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state. However, different countries are angry over this, but the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going ahead with plans to extend these settlements. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that this will extinguish any possibility of two states and breach international law, particularly Article 49 of the Geneva Convention.

If one wants real change, European countries must also come clean. For instance, Spain supports the state of Palestine but has firms such as CAF and GMV that are constructing means of accessing those settlements. Palestinian officials urged Spain to act, and, to date, the Spanish government has not done anything in the year 2024 to stop these activities.

Not even those friendly to Palestinians, as the Irish government has been found wanting on occasions such as these. Ireland’s state investment fund divested from companies active in the settlements, leading American brands to do business through Irish subsidiaries – among which Airbnb – to continue their operations in the settlements. And yet European policies remain equivocal to prevent Israel’s unlawful occupation.

Although some countries of Europe, such as Spain and Norway, have made even symbolic steps in this direction, recently recognizing Palestine as a state, Israel still progresses. This is so despite the fact that Germany condemns the settlements as unlawful. Its selling of arms to Israel serves to encourage this and other settlement projects and forceful campaigns by Israel against Palestinians.

The same is true on the Arab side. The situation isn’t much better. Trade relations with Israel have improved since Bahrain and the UAE signed the Abraham Accords. Contrary to demands that Israel stop its settlement expansion, these accords have produced income that sustains the Israeli war economy. Not even Jordan, which openly criticizes Israeli policies, has watched its trade shares with Israel dwindle in 2024.

But there are signs of light at the end of the tunnel. A leading Norwegian pension fund will stop investing in firms linked to Israeli settlements, an Israeli paper. At the same time, the Saudi royal court has declared that the kingdom’s budding relations with Israel cannot proceed without a Palestinian state. However, these lone-sold efforts are not enough to transform the trend.

Suppose states are serious about a two-state solution. In that case, they should apply sanctions on Israel, refrain from purchasing products from companies that participate in or support the settlement, and challenge diplomatic deals such as the Abraham Accords. The lack of such concrete actions will make the speakers from summits such as Madrid appear as mere talk without action.