Israel/Palestine: Statement by the Spokesperson on settlement expansion

The Israeli government’s recent decision to allocate significant new funding to settlement expansion in the West Bank is a worrying development. This will result in the further entrenchment of settlements in particularly sensitive areas of the West Bank and the increasing fragmentation and isolation of Palestinian communities, leaving them exposed to greater risks of human rights violations.

Furthermore, the EU rejects the Israeli government’s declaration of the settlement Givat Ze’ev, located in the West Bank, as an official municipality of Israel. The EU has a long-standing position of non-recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, in line with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

The EU reiterates its call on Israel to refrain from further settlement expansion, the legalization of outposts, land appropriation, demolitions, evictions and other unilateral measures that undermine the viability of the two-state solution.