Goods from Israeli settlements must be labeled as produced in occupied territory, the EU's top court ruled.  

The decision on Tuesday was hailed by Palestinians and derided by Israel, who attacked what they deemed double standards by the court.  

Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, said he would work with his EU counterparts in an attempt to prevent the ruling's implementation. 

"The ruling's entire objective is to single out and apply a double standard against Israel. There are over 200 ongoing territorial disputes across the world, yet the ECJ has not rendered a single ruling related to the labeling of products originating from these territories," Katz said. 

Saeb Erekat, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) secretary general, welcomed the decision, calling on "all European countries to implement what is a legal and political obligation."

He added: "Our demand is not only for the correct labeling reflecting the certificate of origin of products coming from illegal colonial settlements, but for the banning of those products from international markets."  

The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice (ECJ) said labels must not imply that goods produced in occupied territory came from Israel. Their ruling is in line with recommendations issued by the European Commission. In 2015, the body stated that grocery produce could not be labeled as "Made in Israel" if it was made outside Israel's 1967 borders, in the occupied Palestinian territories. 

The ECJ said labels must "prevent consumers from being misled as to the fact that the State of Israel is present in the territories concerned as an occupying power and not as a sovereign entity."

In its ruling it noted that settlements involved the transfer of Israelis outside the state's territory "in violation of the rules of general international humanitarian law." 

As a result, failing to inform EU consumers they were potentially buying goods produced in settlements denies them access to "ethical considerations and considerations relating to the observance of international law."

The case, which focused on a winery in the Israel-occupied West Bank, could refer also to territory including both the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 "Six-Day War" and East Jerusalem.    

Along with wine, Israeli farmers on occupied land grow and package various fruit and vegetables, much of which has been exported to the EU and labeled as "Product of Israel." 

In 2015, the Israeli Interior Ministry stated that there were 389,250 Israeli citizens living in the West Bank and a further 375,000 Israeli citizens living in East Jerusalem. A 2016 UN Security Council resolution condemned the settlements, including East Jerusalem, stating Israel was in "flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace."

Israel's ambassador to the UN labeled the resolution "shameful" and "anti-Israel."