The United States has officially called on Israel to reverse its decision to appropriate 988 acres of land near Bethlehem in the West Bank, first declared on Sunday by the military as "state land."
"We are deeply concerned about the declaration of a large area as 'state land' to be used for expanded settlement building," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Tuesday. "We have long made clear our opposition to continued settlement activity. We call on the Government of Israel to reverse this decision."
Psaki said the State Department is also very concerned by reports that announcements of new settlement activity in East Jerusalem are pending. The continued planning and construction, she said, is "contrary to Israel's stated goal of negotiating a permanent status agreement with the Palestinians."
Also addressing threats by the Palestinian Authority to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court and other UN bodies, Psaki said, "we continue to stress to both sides our strong opposition to any unilateral steps that undermine the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution."
The EU joined the US and Britain in denouncing Israel's declaration, saying it condemns the “new appropriation of land in the West Bank, relating to plans for further settlement expansion,.”
“Settlements are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to render the two-State solution impossible,” an EU statement said. “The EU reiterates that it will not recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties.”
The statement said that “at this delicate moment, any action that might undermine stability and the prospect of constructive negotiations following the ceasefire in Gaza should be avoided. We call on the Israeli authorities to reverse this decision and to engage in good faith towards a lasting peace based on a two-state solution."
On Sunday Israel decided to reclassify 400 hectares (1,000 dunams) from survey land to state land in an area known as Gva’ot. The move followed an investigation by the Civil Administration that determined none of the parcels is private Palestinian property.
The reclassification allows the Gush Etzion Regional Council to submit plans to construct a fifth Jewish city in the West Bank. The other four are Modi’in Illit, Betar Illit, Ma’aleh Adumim, and Ariel.
Palestinians have charged that the reclassification is a land grab and say the property in question belongs to five area villages.
The United Nations has also urged Israel to reverse the decision. The office of UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon said it is alarmed by reports of the Gva’ot project, calling settlement activity “illegal under international law” and saying it “runs totally counter to the pursuit of a two-state solution.”
The controversy surfaced as Egypt continued in its attempts to broker a permanent cease-fire with Israel and Hamas, and as diplomatic efforts were under way to resume the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which came to a dead end in April.