BRUSSELS, (PIC)
More than 400 former European diplomats, ministers, and senior officials urge the European Union (EU) to “act now” against Israel’s “illegal” settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
The open letter comes as the Israeli occupation government intends to move forward with the E1 plan, a new settlement construction project covering around 12 square kilometers of Palestinian land with some 3,400 settler housing units in the West Bank.
“The 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,” the letter says.
It is signed by 448 figures, including former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt.
The signatories call for targeted sanctions, such as visa bans and business restrictions, on “all those engaged in illegal settlement activity,” calling for measures against those promoting or implementing the E1 scheme.
