EU urges Israel to drop West Bank building plan

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has urged Israel to drop plans to advance settlement construction in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, warning the move would violate international law. Kallas said in a statement, that if implemented, settlement construction in this area will permanently cut the geographical and territorial contiguity between East Jerusalem and the West Bank and sever the connection between the northern and southern West Bank. She added that Israel’s settlement policy was fuelling tensions and eroding the possibility of peace.Israel’s settlement policy - including demolitions, forced transfers, evictions and confiscations of homes - must stop. Coupled with ongoing settler violence and military operations, these unilateral decisions are fuelling an already tense situation on the ground and further eroding any possibility for peace. The EU urges Israel to desist from taking this decision forward, noting its far-reaching implications and the need to consider action to protect the viability of the two-state solution.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved the construction in Ma’ale Adumim, east of Jerusalem, and in the surrounding areas. The project aims to split the West Bank into two parts, severing connections between its northern and southern cities and isolating East Jerusalem. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced the move as part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vision for “Greater Israel”.