Six European countries called Saturday on Israel to stop the expansion of settlements, while also condemning the settler attack against the town of Huwara, south Nablus, and other villages in the West Bank last week.
In a joint statement, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK said: “We urge the Israeli government to reverse its recent decision to advance the construction of more than 7,000 settlement building units across the occupied West Bank and to legalize settlement outposts.”
They expressed their “grave concern” over indiscriminate violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians, including the destruction of homes and properties and demanded that those responsible must face full accountability and legal prosecution.
They condemned recent attacks that killed Israeli citizens, referring to the Sunday night settler attack against Huwara.
The statement follows the escalation of violence in the Palestinian territories, particularly in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967.
“We call on all parties to make good on the commitments they made in the Aqaba meeting by de-escalating in words and deeds and to restore calm, in order for those efforts to blossom and to make the next meeting in Egypt a success,” the six nations said.
The statement came hours after a report said Hungary would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem next month.
The Times of Israel said on Friday that the move would take place in an act of support by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
It would make Hungary the first European Union country to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
Senior Foreign Ministry officials told Zman Yisrael, the Times of Israel’s Hebrew language sister site, on Friday said the two sides reached an agreement on the matter in recent days, with the details hashed out during intensive talks between Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Hungary’s top diplomat Peter Szijjarto.
However, Hungarian President Katalin Novak said on Friday no decision had yet been made on whether Budapest would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem next month.
“I also read news in the press,” Novak said during a news conference while visiting Prague. “In Hungary, a decision so far has not been made on moving our embassy in Israel.”
The Israeli parliament passed a law in 1980 declaring the “complete and united” city of Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel. The United Nations regards East Jerusalem as occupied, and the city's status as disputed until resolved by negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Under former US President Donald Trump, the United States moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in 2018 but only a handful of other countries have done the same.
Meanwhile, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) warned Saturday of the dangers of Israel reactivating the “most dangerous settlement project” on the future of Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The PLO-affiliated National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements said in a press statement that a governmental committee operating under the Israeli Civil Administration will meet on March 27 to discuss two settlement plans that are part of the (E1) project, which aims to link Jerusalem with a number of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The statement said the two plans include the construction of 3,412 housing units on more than 2,100 dunams of land located in a strategic location between East Jerusalem and the Ma'ale Adumim settlement.
“This would divide the West Bank and separate it from East Jerusalem, dealing a fatal blow to the so-called two-state solution, which is supported internationally to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” the National Bureau said.
The E1 project had been strongly opposed by successive American administrations and the international community, but the new far-right Israeli government has been pushing hard to implement it.
