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BRUSSELS, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) on Friday expressed worry about Israel's continuing settlement expansion in the West Bank, a foreign affairs spokesperson said in a statement.
According to the statement, the Israeli authorities have recently approved plans to construct 98 new housing units in what is effectively a new settlement in the northern West Bank, near the existing settlement of Shiloh.
"This decision continues the accelerating trend of new settlement announcements since the start of 2016 and risks further separating Ramallah from Nablus and thus further undermining the contiguity of a future Palestinian state," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson criticized Israel for continuing settlement building and expansion that "goes directly against the recommendations of the Quartet Report."
Israel's plan would "weaken rather than strengthen the prospects for a two-state solution to the Middle East peace process, and make the possibility of a viable Palestinian state more remote," the spokesperson added.
In the statement, the EU spokesperson said "settlements are illegal under international law. Continued settlement expansion also calls into question Israel's commitment towards reaching a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians."
Israeli settlement construction is one of the top and most complicated issues in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. Enditem
