Middle East & North Africa
EU condemns settler attacks in the West Bank, including on European diplomats, and urges Israel to halt settlement expansion
The EU's diplomatic service says the latest settler attacks in the West Bank included attacks on European diplomats, and asks Israel for accountability and an end to settlement expansion.
The European Union has strongly condemned what it called the latest attacks by violent settlers in the West Bank, saying they included attacks on European diplomats. The statement was issued on 18 October by the spokesperson of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s diplomatic service.
The statement does not say where or when the incidents took place, and it does not identify the diplomats or their countries. It says only that the attacks came during the ongoing olive harvest, a season in which Palestinian farmers work groves that are often close to settlements. The EU also referred to violence and harassment against journalists.
What the EU is asking for
The EEAS said it welcomes the condemnation of the attacks by several Israeli representatives, whom it did not name. It added that it expects “full accountability as well as effective measures to prevent continued acts of violence and violent harassment against Palestinians”. It also urged Israel “to fully abide by International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law” and to cease the expansion of settlements.
Background
Settler violence in the West Bank has been raised repeatedly in UN bodies this month. At the General Assembly’s Second Committee on 16 October, an official of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia said settler violence was at its highest level since 2006, as reported in UN regional commission tells General Assembly committee that Gaza’s losses reverse decades of development; Israel rejects the report. The UK also raised the settlement issue, including the E1 plan, at the Security Council, as covered in UK at the Security Council: two-state solution “under serious threat”, with calls on Israel over Gaza aid and E1 and on Hamas to disarm.
The EEAS statement is the EU’s position as expressed by its spokespersons, Christian Wigand and Anouar El Anouni, who are listed as contacts. The full text is available on the EEAS website.
