The foreign affairs ministers of fifteen EU Member States (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden), as well as Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom, and the High Representative of the Union called, on Thursday 21 August, for the “immediate reversal in the strongest terms” of Israel’s plans to build 3,000 housing units in settlements in the E1 area east of Jerusalem.
Approval of this project, which would cut the West Bank in two, is “unacceptable and a violation of international law”, the ministers stressed in a statement.
Pointing out that, according to Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich, this project will prevent the two-state solution from being achieved by dividing up the entire Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem, the ministers argued that would bring no benefit to the Israeli people. This decision “fuels further violence and instability, taking us further away from peace”, they underlined.
The ministers urged the Israeli government to halt settlement construction and lift the restrictions it imposes on Palestinian Authority’s finances.
On 14 August, the High Representative of the Union, Kaja Kallas, had already denounced the Israeli announcement concerning the E1, saying that it “further undermines the two-state solution, while being a breach of international law”.
“Israel’s settlement policy - including demolitions, forced transfers, evictions and confiscations of homes - must stop”, warned Ms Kallas, pointing out that, coupled with ongoing settler violence and military operations, this was fuelling an already tense situation on the ground and further undermining any possibility of peace.
On 19 August, the spokesperson for the European External Action Service stressed that the EU was appalled by Israel’s demolition of an EU and French funded school in al-Aqaba. “The EU supports projects promoting economic development and improving the quality of life of Palestinian communities in Area C and expects its investments in support of the Palestinian people to be protected from damage and destruction by Israel in line with international law”, the spokesperson added. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)