Brussels, 03/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 3 October, the European Union condemned the Israeli decisions to approve a plan for the creation of 2,610 new housing units in the Jewish district of Givat Hamatos in East Jerusalem, and to allow expansion of the settlement in the Silwan district in East Jerusalem. Around 200,000 Israelis live alongside 306,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem, according to the local Israeli authority in the city.
“We call on the Government of Israel to urgently reverse its decisions and put an end to its settlement policy in East Jerusalem and in the West Bank”, stated the spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. According to the spokesperson, these new decisions represent “a further highly detrimental step that undermines prospects for a two-state solution and calls into question Israel's commitment to a peaceful negotiated settlement with the Palestinians”.
“The future development of relations between the EU and Israel will depend on the latter's engagement towards a lasting peace based on a two state solution”, Ashton's spokesperson stated. He reiterated that the parties' commitment to a negotiated solution will only be credible if they refrain from unilateral actions that change the situation on the ground and threaten the viability of the two-state solution. The spokesperson again stated that the EU will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties.
Belgium condemns destruction of a project it funded. Elsewhere, on 2 October, Belgium condemned the Israeli forces' destruction on 29 September of part of a low-voltage electricity grid that Belgium funded and implemented through the Coopération Technique Belge (CTB), in the village of Khirbet Al Taweel in the West Bank. “Belgium intends to hold further European-level discussion on the issue of compensation that must be paid by Israel in such cases”, said Belgium's Minister for Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders (our translation). This is the first time that a Belgian cooperation project has been destroyed in the West Bank - although other cooperation projects funded by European countries or the European Commission have previously been destroyed. (CG)