PARIS
\nMore than 400 former diplomats, ministers, and senior officials on Wednesday urged the European Union to \u201cact now\u201d against Israel\u2019s \u201cillegal\u201d settlements in the occupied West Bank. The open letter comes as Israel intends to move forward with E1, a new construction project covering around 12 square kilometers with some 3,400 housing units in the occupied West Bank.
\nThe move would further separate east Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel and predominantly inhabited by Palestinians, from the West Bank. \u201cThe EU and its member states, together with partners, must take immediate action to deter Israel from further advancing its illegal annexation of Palestinian land in the West Bank,\u201d said the letter signed by more than 440 figures, including former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt.
\nThe signatories called for targeted sanctions, such as visa bans and business restrictions, on \u201call those engaged in illegal settlement activity,\u201d calling for measures against those promoting or implementing the E1 scheme. The Israeli government plans to publish an initial tender on June 1 for the construction of housing for up to 15,000 \u201cillegal settlers,\u201d the letter said, urging the EU and its member states to \u201cact now.\u201d
\nThe plan has been condemned by international leaders, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres\u2019s spokesman saying it would pose an \u201cexistential threat\u201d to a contiguous Palestinian state. Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank in settlements that are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians.
\nIn 2025, the expansion of Israeli settlements reached its highest level since at least 2017, when the United Nations began tracking data, according to a UN report.
\n There has been a spike in deadly attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Iran war on February 28, Palestinian officials and the United Nations have said. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS More than 400 former diplomats, ministers, and senior officials on Wednesday urged the European Union to \u201cact now\u201d against Israel\u2019s \u201cillegal\u201d settlements in the occupied West Bank. The open letter comes as Israel intends to move forward with E1, a new construction project covering around 12 square kilometers with some 3,400 housing units in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-545058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n