Slovenia on Wednesday announced a ban on imports of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, in a “symbolic measure” designed to ratchet up diplomatic pressure over the war on Gaza, AFP reports.

“The actions of the Israeli government… constitute serious and repeated violations of international humanitarian law,” the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

Slovenia “cannot and must not be part of a chain that enables or overlooks” such violations it said includes the “construction of illegal settlements, expropriations, the forced evictions of the Palestinian population”.

The Slovenian government thus decided to “ban imports of goods originating from Israeli illegal settlements”.

Its latest move represents a “clear reaction to the Israeli government’s policy, which… undermines the possibilities for lasting peace and a two-state solution.”

“While symbolic”, the ban “is a necessary response to the ongoing humanitarian and security situation in Gaza,” Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said of the measure.