EU urges Israel to drop West Bank building plan

Brussels, Aug 15 European Union (EU) 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 and irreparably damage prospects for a two-state solution.

"If implemented, settlement construction in this area will permanently cut the geographical and territorial contiguity between occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank and sever the connection between the northern and southern West Bank," Kallas said on Thursday in a statement.

She added that Israel's settlement policy, including demolitions, forced transfers, evictions and home confiscations, must end, adding that such measures, along with settler violence and military operations, were fuelling tensions and eroding the possibility of peace, Xinhua news agency reported.

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," Kallas said.

She stressed that the "unilateral decisions," along with settler violence and military operations, fuel an already tense situation on the ground and erode the possibility for peace.

The E1 area, a stretch of land east of Jerusalem between the city and the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, is regarded as especially contentious because construction there would effectively cut off East Jerusalem from the northern West Bank.

Plans for building in the area have been frozen for years, largely due to international opposition.

On Thursday, Israeli media reported that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved the construction of 3,401 settler units in Ma’ale Adumim, east of Jerusalem, and 3,515 more in 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", warning it would entrench the occupation and eliminate the viability of a Palestinian state.

The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law.

The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In an advisory opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

--IANS

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