Ramallah, Dec 27 (IANS): The Palestinian government said on Thursday that it will ban access of Israeli vegetables, fruits and poultry into its market in response to an Israeli ban on import of corresponding Palestinian products.

The Palestinian government said in a statement following its weekly meeting that "in light of the unilateral Israeli decision to prevent the entry of Palestinian vegetables and fruits into Israeli markets, the government decided to ban all kinds of Israeli vegetables, fruits and poultry."

It said that the decision came "in line with the principle of protecting the local products and Palestinian farmers, and in fulfilment of the government's policy to support the resilience of the farmers", Xinhua news agency reported.

Israel banned Palestinian agricultural products last week after the Palestinians decided to stop allowing into the local markets sheep imported from Israel in order to protect the domestic livestock farmers.

According to official data, Palestinian vegetable exports to the Israeli market in 2017 reached nearly $56 million and fruit exports hit $5 million.