EU’s Mogherini raps Israel settlement expansion plans

The European Union’s new foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has slammed the Israeli regime for its new plans to continue illegal settlement expansion on the occupied Palestinian lands.

Mogherini made the remarks on Friday in a joint press conference with Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman in al-Quds (Jerusalem) during her first visit to the occupied region as the EU’s top diplomat.

The EU foreign policy chief said the Tel Aviv regime’s land grab plans are in fact an obstacle to the so-called peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.

Furthermore, Mogherini warned of a new wave of tensions in the Palestinian territories if there is no progress in the Israeli-Palestinian talks, calling for the immediate resumption of the US-backed negotiations.

Mogherini’s comments come just days after the Israeli regime approved for the construction of 278 new illegal settler units in East al-Quds despite an ongoing international outcry over Tel Aviv’s expansionist policies.

The Israeli regime also approved last month plans for the construction of 1,060 new settler units in East al-Quds.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman has warned the Security Council over Israel’s land grab in East al-Quds, saying such policies threaten the viability of a future Palestinian state.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 settlements, built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East al-Quds, in 1967.

Much of the international community considers the settlements illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are thus subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.