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Palestine says EU stance on Israeli settlements ‘not enough’

Wednesday, 10 February 2021 2:25 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 10 February 2021 3:05 PM ]

The file photo, taken on January 20, 2021, shows a general view of Mitzpe Avigayil, an Israeli settlement outpost located in the south of the occupied West Bank. (By AFP)

Palestine says the European Union’s opposition to the Israeli settlements is “not enough” and it should work to stop the crimes committed by the regime.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry welcomed the recent statement by the EU spokesman, in which he reiterated the bloc's firm opposition to Israel’s settlement policy.

Such an attitude, the ministry stated, is “insufficient and does not rise to the level of the violations and crimes committed by the [Israeli] occupation against our people and their territory, properties and sanctuaries”, the London-based daily al-Quds al-Arabi reported on Wednesday.

The ministry urged everyone, not least the United Nations and the Security Council, to “take all necessary measures and practical steps to force Israel, as an occupying power, to stop its settlements activity in all its forms and to halt the occupation’s crimes.”

UN Security Council Resolution 2334 demands a halt to all settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories. The ministry called for the implementation of the resolution, and imposing deterrent international sanctions on Israel.

EU spokesman Peter Stano issued a statement on Tuesday, condemning the recent demolition of 46 structures belonging to Palestinian families in Hamsa al-Foqa in the northern Jordan Valley.

Noting that about 60 Palestinians, including 35 children, were displaced in the course of the latest demolition, Stano reiterated the bloc’s call for an end to demolitions and all continued settlement expansion.

A Palestinian man reacts as Israeli forces demolish his residential tent located within area C in the village of Susya, south of the West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron), February 10, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

“The EU recalls its firm opposition to Israel’s settlement policy and actions taken in that context, such as forced transfers, evictions, demolitions and confiscations of homes, which it sees as illegal under international law and as an impediment to a viable two-state solution.”

There are over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.

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