By Palestine Chronicle Staff
Maja Kocijančič, spokesperson for the European Union Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, issued a statement on Thursday describing Israel’s new plan to build hundreds of housing units in the West Bank as a “serious concern”.
The statement read, “The Israeli decision yesterday to endorse an additional 463 housing units in the occupied West Bank and to retroactively approve 179 existing units is a serious concern,” adding that since the beginning of the year, “Israeli authorities have promoted or retroactively legalised 2,706 units in West Bank settlements.”
New settlements units in the occupied #WestBank: #EU reiterates its strong opposition to Israel's settlement policy https://t.co/gHgGbZuwuM
— Maja Kocijančič (@MajaEUspox) September 1, 2016
The statement added that such actions undermine peace prospects, noting, “The Quartet report published last July identified such action as undermining the prospects for peace and steadily eroding the viability of the two-state solution, and recommended that any expansion of settlements be frozen.”
The EU reiterates its strong opposition to Israel’s settlement policy and all actions taken in this context.”
The EU has repeatedly criticized Israel for building settlements in the West Bank.
The International community believes that these settlements are illegal and breach international law – a condemnation which Israel continues to defy.
(PalestineChronicle.com)
