European powers tell Israel to stop settlement expansion

European countries warn continued Israeli settlement expansion will damage prospects for a viable Palestinian state.

France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain urged Israel to halt settlement-building in the occupied West Bank. The joint statement on Thursday came as tensions mounted in occupied East Jerusalem ahead of a hearing that could see Palestinian families forcibly displaced from Sheikh Jarrah, a neighbourhood where Jewish settlers backed by an Israeli court have taken over some homes. “We urge the government of Israel to reverse its decision to advance the construction of 540 settlement units in the Har Homa E area of the occupied West Bank, and to cease its policy of settlement expansion across the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” the European nations said.