EU concerned over Israeli moves in Gush Etzion, Hebron

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton called on Israel Friday to reverse recent actions, such as announcing new settlements in the West Bank, to bolster faltering peace talks.

Ashton viewed with “great concern” an Israeli decision to declare an area near the Gush Etzion bloc south of Bethlehem as state land and approval of a new Jewish settlement in the southern city of Hebron, a statement from her office said.

The continued demolition of Palestinian property and the confiscation of EU humanitarian aid were also worrying, Ashton added.

Earlier this month, an EU official said Israel had demolished several EU-funded humanitarian housing shelters in a highly sensitive strip of West Bank land near Jerusalem.

“The EU calls on the Israeli authorities to reverse these decisions,” Ashton said.

Such events are “not conducive to the climate of trust and cooperation needed for the current peace negotiations to succeed,” she added.