EU Demands Immediate Halt to Israeli "Settlement" Activity

(MENAFN) The European Commission on Wednesday issued a sweeping demand for Israel to immediately cease all settlement construction, settler violence, demolitions, forced transfers and evictions of Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem — while acknowledging that deep internal divisions are hampering the bloc's ability to enforce meaningful consequences.

At a midday briefing in Brussels, EU Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni reiterated the bloc's long-standing condemnation of Israeli unilateral moves to entrench its footprint across occupied Palestinian territories.

"Settlements, settlement constructions, settler violence, demolitions, force transfers, evictions of Palestinians must stop," he said, responding to a question asked my media.

El Anouni grounded the EU's position firmly in international law, citing the International Court of Justice's landmark 2024 advisory opinion in asserting that Israel's continued settlement expansion across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is unlawful.

The EU is urging Israel "to reverse these decisions, to abide by its obligations under international law and to protect the Palestinian population of the occupied territories," El Anouni added.

Yet the Commission's ability to translate rhetoric into action appears constrained by internal fractures. The spokesperson acknowledged that proposed measures have stalled at the EU Council level due to insufficient member-state consensus.

"Some require the qualified majority and we don't have that qualified majority. Some require unanimity and we don't have that unanimity," El Anouni said.

Despite the political gridlock, El Anouni defended the bloc's overall commitment, asserting that the EU is "the biggest supporter of the Palestinian people, the largest donor to the Palestinian Authority," and adding: "You will not find any other supporter of the Palestinian people in the world, be it institutionally, politically, financially, concretely, and in terms of humanitarian support than the EU."

Conditions on the ground have sharply deteriorated in recent years. Settler violence and military operations in the occupied West Bank have surged markedly since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, with further deterioration recorded during the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The legal backdrop has grown increasingly pointed. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal in its entirety and called for the full evacuation of all settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem — a ruling Israel has thus far defied.

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