(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Bethlehem, October 08 (QNA) - The spokesperson for the European Union has strongly condemned Israel";s plans to construct 98 new housing units in occupied Palestinian territory in the northern West Bank for the establishment of a new Israeli settlement, Ma'an News Agency reported.
The condemnation came two days following notably harsh criticisms by the United States over Israel";s illegal settlement enterprise.Last month, the Higher Planning Committee (HPC) of Israel";s Civil Administration approved for "depositing" -- the planning phase prior to final approval -- a plan for 98 housing units for a new settlement to be located east of the already established settlement of Shiloh, on lands of the Palestinian village of Jalud in the northern West Bank district of Nablus. It is part of a larger plan for 300 units yet to be promoted.
Meanwhile in April, Palestinian residents of Jalud reported that Israeli authorities delivered notices alerting them that 5,000 dunams (1,250 acres) of private land were slated for confiscation.
A new industrial area west of Ramallah was also given approval at the time, near to Israel";s separation wall and the Green Line that divides the occupied West Bank from Israel.
The EU spokesperson emphasized that the new settlement units represented the "accelerating trend of new settlement announcements since the start of 2016," adding that the move has threatened to further separate the West Bank districts of Ramallah and Nablus while disrupting any possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state.
"The retroactive authorization of nearby illegal outposts or redrawing of local settlement boundaries contradicts previous public statements by the government of Israel that it had no intention of creating new settlements," the statement said.
"The decision to continue settlement building and expansion goes directly against the recommendations of the Quartet Report, weakens rather than strengthens the prospects for a two-state solution to the Middle East peace process, and makes the possibility of a viable Palestinian state more remote."
The statement then went on to underscore the fact that all of Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, and that their continued expansion "calls into question Israel's commitment towards reaching a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians." The EU statement came just two days after the White House and Department of State released scathing criticisms of the recent settlement plans, with the Deputy Department Spokesperson Mark Toner calling the move another step toward a "one-state reality of perpetual occupation."
Toner emphasized in the statement that the new settlement, which would comprise more than 300 housing units and which is located "deep in the West Bank, far closer to Jordan than Israel," would "link a string of outposts that effectively divide the West Bank and make the possibility of a viable Palestinian state more remote." "It is deeply troubling, in the wake of Israel and the U.S. concluding an unprecedented agreement on military assistance designed to further strengthen Israel's security, that Israel would take a decision so contrary to its long term security interest in a peaceful resolution of its conflict with the Palestinians," he added. (QNA)