The European Union voiced serious alarm on Friday over Israel's decision to pump major funds into expanding settlements across Palestinian territories. The bloc warned the move will deepen entrenchment of settlements in the West Bank and fracture Palestinian communities, exposing them to heightened risks of human rights abuses.
European capitals have also rejected Israel's declaration of Givat Ze'ev, situated in the West Bank, as an official Israeli municipality. The EU reaffirmed its stance that it does not recognise Israeli sovereignty over territories occupied since June 1967, in line with relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
The union called on Israel to halt further settlement expansion, land seizures, demolitions, evictions and other actions that jeopardise the viability of a two-state solution. On Thursday, Israeli settlers moved into a newly established settlement perched on a mountain overlooking Nablus in the occupied West Bank, sparking condemnation from Palestinian leaders.
Palestinian authorities say the action breaches international law. Roughly 500,000 Israeli settlers inhabit the occupied West Bank, with an additional 250,000 living in occupied East Jerusalem.
This week, Israel signed a 8.5 billion-shekel ($2.3 billion) agreement to develop settlements in the West Bank, encompassing construction of 12,000 housing units and infrastructure work. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, land authority director Yehuda Eliyahu and Yossi Dagan, head of the Shomron Regional Council, attended the signing.
The UN Human Rights Office stated that Israel's "accelerated unlawful settlement expansion and annexation" has displaced more than 36,000 Palestinians amid violence perpetrated by security personnel and settlers. A 12-month investigation by the agency identified 1,732 incidents of settler violence that caused casualties, property damage, harassment, intimidation and destruction of homes and agricultural land.
