EU slams Israeli settlement expansion

The European Union condemned Israel’s expansion of Gilo, a key settlement south of Jerusalem, in a statement released on Tuesday by the European External Action Service (EEAS).

Israel’s approval of construction permits for 181 housing units in the “illegal settlement of Gilo,” says the EU, “contributes to closing the southern settlement ring around East Jerusalem, thereby compromising contiguity between East Jerusalem and the West Bank, which is crucial for the viability of the two-state solution.” The EEAS expressed “regret” that Israel “proceeded with these building permits despite continuous serious international concern and objections ever since these plans were first announced.”

The EU officials noted that “the steady and systematic acceleration of settlement expansion goes directly against the recommendations of the Quartet Report” and pointed out that all Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. “They constitute an obstacle to peace and seriously call into question Israel’s commitment to a negotiated two-state solution, as reaffirmed in numerous Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions, most recently in July 2015 and January 2016.”