The European Union has expressed deep concern over the Israeli government's plans to allocate billions of dollars to expand illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank.

The EU said the Israeli government's decision to dedicate unprecedented funding to settlement construction would further entrench the occupation's presence in strategically sensitive areas of the occupied Palestinian territory, making a negotiated two-state solution increasingly difficult to achieve.

According to Israeli authorities, approximately $2.8 billion has been earmarked for the construction of thousands of new settlement housing units and the expansion of settlement infrastructure throughout the occupied West Bank.

The settlement program reportedly includes plans to build around 12,000 new settlement units, a move widely viewed as part of a broader policy aimed at altering the demographic and geographic character of the occupied Palestinian territories.

Under international law, Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are considered illegal. The international community has repeatedly affirmed that settlement construction violates the Fourth Geneva Convention and numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2334.

In a related development, the European Union firmly rejected Israel's decision to upgrade the illegal settlement of Givat Ze'ev, located on confiscated Palestinian land northwest of occupied Jerusalem, into an official Israeli municipality.

The EU reiterated that it does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territories occupied since 1967, emphasizing that unilateral measures intended to alter the legal status or demographic composition of the occupied Palestinian territory have no legal validity under international law.

The bloc warned that continued settlement expansion and the institutionalization of illegal settlements further erode the foundations necessary for a peaceful resolution to the decades-long conflict.

Meanwhile, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission warned that Israeli authorities are advancing new colonial settlement plans aimed at confiscating more than 1,000 dunams of Palestinian-owned land for the construction of over 1,000 additional settlement units.

The Commission said several settlement schemes have already entered advanced implementation stages after receiving official approval and progressing through Israeli planning procedures.

Palestinian officials argue that the continued expansion of settlements, accompanied by land confiscation and restrictions on Palestinian development, constitutes part of a systematic policy to consolidate Israel's occupation and fragment Palestinian territory.

The latest settlement plans come amid growing international criticism of Israel's settlement policies, which Palestinians and much of the international community view as a major obstacle to achieving a sovereign and contiguous Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. (ILKHA)