Several members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) have lashed out at Israel’s increased settlement construction in the Palestinian territories and escalating Jewish settler attacks on Palestinians.
 
We are "dismayed by these wholly negative developments" and the threat they pose to the regional peace, said Britain, France, Germany and Portugal in a joint statement after a UNSC meeting on the Middle East conflict on Tuesday.
 
The four European Union (EU) countries condemned the “devastating” impact of Israel’s growing settlement building in the occupied territories.
 
"The viability of the Palestinian state that we want to see and the two-state solution that is essential for Israel’s long-term security are threatened by the systematic and deliberate expansion of settlements," the joint statement added.
 
They also called on Tel Aviv to take strong measures to stop extremist settler attacks on Palestinians and their mosques.
 
"We condemn the disturbing escalation of violence by settlers, including the burning” of mosques in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the statement read on, pointing out that “it is clear that these deliberately provocative attacks on places of worship were designed to aggravate tensions.”
 
Meanwhile, South Africa, Brazil, and India issued their own condemnation of Israeli policies towards Palestinians and their lands.
 
The condemning statements come a few days after Israel unveiled tenders for the construction of 1,028 new illegal settlement units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
 
The new settlement buildings include 500 units in the Har Homa neighborhood of East Jerusalem, 348 in the Beitar Ilit settlement near Bethlehem, and 180 in the Givat Ze’ev settlement in the West Bank.
 
The tenders are part of a 6,000-unit package that is scheduled to be constructed across Israel and the West Bank.
 
UN figures show that Israel has demolished more than 500 Palestinian homes and other structures in 2011 and displaced over 1,000 Palestinians, which is the greatest number in a single year since 2005.
 
The figures also demonstrate that Jewish settlers’ attacks on Palestinians have climbed to their worst level since 2005, with a 50 percent increase compared to 2010, and more than a 160 percent rise over 2009.
 
The UN and the EU call the settlements built on the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal under the international law.
 
In September 2010, Tel Aviv resumed settlement construction in the occupied territories after a 10-month partial freeze, prompting the Palestinian Authority to break off direct talks with Tel Aviv.
 
(Press TV)