In total breach of the Oslo accords, the European Union is illegally funding the building of Palestinian "settlements" in areas placed under Israeli control by international law, an Israeli NGO said in a new report published on Friday.
More than 400 EU-funded Palestinian homes have been erected in 17 locations across Area C of the West Bank, which was placed under Israeli jurisdiction during the Oslo Accords which the EU signed as a witness, Regavim said.
Judea and Samaria was divided into Areas A, B and C in the 1993 Oslo Accords which created the Palestinian Authority (PA), and under the agreements Area C is under complete Israeli administrative and security control.
According to the report, the structures are being built in the E1 area of the West Bank within the municipal boundary of the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, adjacent to and northeast of Jerusalem. They largely resemble prefabricated caravans
Regavim said European Union support for the Palestinians has in recent years moved from “passive diplomatic and financial assistance to a situation of active cooperation in illegal building which the Palestinian Authority has been advancing unilaterally since 2000, as part of its strategic plan to create a Palestinian state de facto, while avoiding the need for negotiations with Israel.”
The Palestinian homes, which have no permits, also come at a cost of tens of millions of Euros in public money, the NGO said.
"Between the lines rises in full force the European hypocrisy, which accuses Israel of taking unilateral steps, even as it is sunk up to its neck in illegal and unilateral activities for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority," Regavim stated.
According to the Daily Mail Online, which came first with the report, the official EU documentation revealed that the building project - locally known as the "EU Settlements" - is intended to "pave the way for development and more authority of the Palestinian Authority over Area C.’’
The villages fly the EU flag, and display hundreds of EU stickers and signs. Some also bear the logos of Oxfam and other NGOs, which have assisted in the projects, the Daily Mail said.
According to Ari Briggs, Regavim’s international relations director, the EU logo is placed on the structures in the belief that this will prevent Israel from demolishing them.
Asked about the report, an EU spokesperson, Maja Kocijancic, denied any wrongdoing, insisting that construction had not taken place yet.
"The EU's funding will provide training and expertise, to help the relevant Palestinian Authority (PA) Ministries to plan and build new infrastructure and enable people to reclaim and rebuild their land there," she said. "To date, no construction has started yet under these programmes. The EU is not funding illegal projects."
But Shadi Othman, a spokesman for the EU in the West Bank and Gaza, told the Daily Mail construction was indeed taking place.
"We support the Palestinian presence in Area C. Palestinian presence should not be limited Areas A and B. Area C is part of the occupied Palestinian territory which eventually will be Palestinian land. Palestinians have a right to live there, build schools there, have economic development," he said.
"This is part of the work done to build the future Palestinian state which will live side by side with Israel. It's an international and EU interest to protect the viability of the two state solution.
"If some people are complaining about this, we should not forget the illegal Israeli settlements that are built on occupied Palestinian territory and are illegal under international law and constitute an obstacle to peace," he said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli media reported that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon to move forward with a plan to demolish the Palestinian structures built in the West Bank with European funding.
An Israeli government source told the Daily Mail that the Palestinian settlements demonstrate ":the double standards of the EU," which "deplores" Israeli settlements while funding illegal building of its own for Palestinians.
"If Israel started building houses in the middle of Hyde Park, the British government would immediately take them down," he said. "The EU is doing things that would never be acceptable in Europe."