The European Union expressed frustration with Israel’s continued demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank in a high-level meeting last week.
In the meeting with the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s newly appointed director general, the EU ambassador read out a stern joint statement message, saying Israel was failing in its international legal obligations and needed to change its policy, Aljazeera reported.
The issue came to a head after Israel issued demolition orders last month against 42 homes in the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, east of Beit ul-Moqaddas, where EU member states Belgium and Italy have funded a school and helped build structures for the local population of around 150, Aljazeera reported.
“The practice of enforcement measures such as forced transfers, evictions, demolitions and confiscations of homes and humanitarian assets (including EU-funded) and the obstruction of delivery of humanitarian assistance are contrary to Israel’s obligations under international law,” Ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen was quoted as saying, with envoys from all EU member states present.
“We, therefore, call on Israel, as the occupying power, to meet its obligations vis-à-vis the Palestinian population ... completely stop these demolitions and confiscations and allow full access of humanitarian assistance.”
The clampdown against Khan al-Ahmar, located in a sensitive area of the West Bank that Israel has earmarked for settlement expansion, is the latest in a series of demolitions that have been roundly condemned by the EU and the United Nations.
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