The European Union on Friday expressed its concern about the Israeli government’s decision to allocate significant new funding to settlement expansion in Palestinian territories.
The alliance said the development will further entrench settlements in the West Bank and break Palestinian communities, leaving them exposed to greater risks of human rights violations.
European capitals likewise reject the Israeli government’s declaration on the settlement of Givat Ze’ev, located in the West Bank, as an official municipality of Israel.
The EU echoed its position of non-recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the territories occupied since June 1967, aligning with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.
The bloc told Israel to refrain from further settlement expansion, land appropriation, demolitions, evictions, and other measures that undermine the feasibility of the two-state solution.
On Thursday, the first group of Israeli settlers moved into a new settlement on a mountain towering over the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, drawing condemnation by Palestinian officials.
The authorities insist the action violates international law. Around 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in the occupied West Bank, while about 250,000 live in occupied East Jerusalem.
This week, Israel signed an 8.5 billion-shekel ($2.3 billion) agreement to expand settlements in the West Bank, including the construction of 12,000 new housing units and infrastructure projects.
In attendance were Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Land Authority Director Yehuda Eliyahu, and Yossi Dagan, Shomron Regional Council head.
The UN Human Rights Office said Israel’s “accelerated unlawful settlement expansion and annexation” has displaced over 36,000 Palestinians amid violence by security forces and settlers.
The agency’s 12-month investigation documented 1,732 incidents of settler violence resulting in casualties or property damage, harassment, intimidation, and destruction of homes and farmland.