Jerusalem /PNN/

The EU and its Member States will continue to closely monitor the developments on the ground. The respect of international humanitarian law and international human rights law by state and non-state actors, and accountability for violations committed, are a cornerstone for peace and security in the Middle East region.

The European Union office in Jerusalem added that: "The EU is committed to a negotiated two-state solution, based on international law, the 1967 lines, with equivalent land swaps, as may be agreed between the parties, with the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign, and the viable State of Palestine, living side by side in peace, security and mutual recognition".

The EU will continue to support all efforts aimed at reviving a political process in line with international law, which ensures equal rights and which is acceptable to both parties. The EU will engage with both Israel and the Palestinians, and with our international and regional partners to this end.

The EU has previously expressed concern about laws adopted by Israel such as the “Regularisation Law" in 2017. The EU considers that any law adopted by Israel that unilaterally legalizes the seizure of Palestinian property rights and effectively authorizes the confiscation of privately-owned Palestinian land in occupied territory is not only beyond Israel’s jurisdiction: it risks entrenching a one-state reality of unequal rights, perpetual occupation, and conflict.

The EU’s position on the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, is also clear and hasn’t changed: They are illegal under international law, constitute a major obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible.