Brussels: The European Union's (EU) heads of missions and representatives have stated their strong opposition to Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank. According to a report by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, the diplomats toured many regions in the West Bank and those near East Jerusalem, after a recent announcement by the Israeli government to forward large settlement plans in the territories.

According to the WAFA report, "the visit was organised by the Israeli NGO Ir Amim, which lectured the ambassadors about the exceedingly concerning effects of the settlement plans for Givat Hamatos, Har Homa, E1 and Qalandia/Atarot."

The diplomats were quoted as saying during their visit that "settlements are illegal under international law and significantly undermine ongoing efforts to rebuild trust" between Israel and Palestine, and that their countries "will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties."

In a press release issued on Monday, the Office of the EU Representative for the West Bank and Gaza Strip quoted EU Representative in Palestine Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff as saying, "The recent approvals of thousands of housing units for Israeli settlers aim to disconnect Palestinians from their city and change East Jerusalem's identity."

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