EU, UN: Halt W. Bank settlement activity
The European Union and the United Nations called on Israel to halt West Bank settlement activity after the Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria advanced plans for 2,304 new settler homes on Monday and Tuesday.
“By advancing the effective annexation of the West Bank, it undermines the chances for establishing a Palestinian state based on relevant UN resolutions, as part of a negotiated two-state solution,” US Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said.
Such activity must “cease immediately and completely,” he added.
The EU said that, “all settlement activity is illegal under international law. It erodes the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace.
“The EU expects the Israeli authorities to fully meet their obligations as an occupying power under International Humanitarian Law, and to cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion, of designating land for exclusive Israeli use and of denying Palestinian development,” the union said.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab issued his first statement on the issue of settlement building, warning that Israel was promoting “the effective annexation of the West Bank.”
Raab also called on Israel to allow Palestinian construction in Area C – which is under Israeli military and civil control – explaining that the 600 permits Israel’s security cabinet approved last week did not fully address the needs of the 300,000 Palestinians living there.
To date, no action has been taken to get the security cabinet to act. The left-wing NGO Peace Now has reported that during the years 2009 to 2016, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in office, Israel issued only 66 permits for Palestinian building in Area C.
“The UK continues to urge the government of Israel to develop improved mechanisms that allow Palestinians to build within Area C,” Raab said.
Britain opposes the “continued demolition of Palestinian property by Israeli authorities, including in Wadi al-Hummus on 22 July,” he said, referring to the IDF demolition of 12 Palestinian structures there last month.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Israel’s “illegitimate policy” regarding settlement and its “brazen breach” of international law.
On Wednesday morning, Meretz Party head Nitzan Horowitz toured the West Bank, going to a new outpost next to the Mitzpe Yeriho settlement that was built three months ago, called Mitzpe Ha-Torah. It is part farm and part religious seminary, said Hagit Ofran of Peace Now.
Her organization recently published a report showing that since 2012, some 32 new West Bank outposts have been established, including the one her group showed Horowitz.
During the tour, Peace Now also put up a sign by the entrance to Mitzpe Ha-Torah, stating that it was an illegal outpost.
Horowitz warned that, “construction in the settlements is rampant – even in the isolated settlements and in the illegal outposts.” He added that Netanyahu, along with United Right MKs Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former justice minister and party leader Ayelet Shaked, were leading Israel into the “abyss” by wanting to annex Palestinian territory – a move that would destroy any chance of a two-state solution.
The United Right has been blunt about its desire to annex Area C of the West Bank. In the last election, Netanyahu said he would apply sovereignty to the settlements, all of which are located in Area C.
The right-wing NGO Regavim asked Horowitz in response if he was a “hypocrite” or had “vision problems.” It noted that on the way to the Jewish outposts, he would have had to pass dozens of illegal Palestinian encampments erected as part of a Palestinian Authority plan to take over the area around the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement.
On Monday and Tuesday the Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria agreed that plans for 1,466 settler homes would be deposited, and plans for 838 homes would be validated, according to Peace Now. It also authorized three outposts.
The council meets four times a year to approve and advance settlement building. This is its second meeting this year.