The EU office in the Palestinian territories said Israel advanced the largest number of settlements in the occupied West Bank last year, Euractiv reported.
According to the European Union office, plans to build 12,349 housing units in the West Bank have gone forward for approval. Israel’s decision puts the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in jeopardy. A further 18,333 housing units units moved forward in the planning process in annexed East Jerusalem, making the total number of settlements 30,682 units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the most since 2012.
The European Union report came amid heightened tensions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 39,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and the displacement of most of the enclave’s 2.3 million residents, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Meanwhile, Israeli settlements in the West Bank occupied since 1967 are illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have Israeli permission to build. Scores of unauthorised settlements have sprung up in the territories, which have public electricity and water connections.
East Jerusalem is an exception, as the West Bank is now home to some 490,000 Israeli settlers along with some three million Palestinians. Against this backdrop, right-wing parties in Israel’s ruling coalition are pushing to accelerate settlement expansion as violence between Palestinians and Israeli troops and settlers has intensified.
Since 7 October, Israeli troops and settlers have killed at least 594 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry’s estimate. At the same time, official Israeli figures show that 17 Israelis, including soldiers, have lost their lives in Palestinian attacks over the same period.
The Oslo Accords, signed in 1993, established mutual recognition of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), as well as interim Palestinian self-rule. But amid the expansion of settlements, the agreement stands “dead,” according to Norwegian peacemaker Jan Egeland, one of the agreement’s authors.
The EU has repeatedly called on Israel not to proceed with plans under its settlement policy and to halt all settlement activities. It remains the EU’s firm position that settlements are illegal under international law. Israel’s decision to advance plans for the approval and construction of new settlement units in 2023 further undermines the prospects of a viable two-state solution, the EU office said
