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View Full Version : Stop demolition of Palestinian village, European foreign ministers tell Israel



European Knight
07-23-2015, 05:02 PM
Message comes in tough communique after Israeli officials issue demolition orders calling for the destruction of unauthorised structures in West Bank village of Khirbet Susiya

Europe's top statesmen have issued a stern warning to Israel against demolishing part of a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank after military officials announced that bulldozers could move in imminently.

A toughly-worded admonition from the European Union's council of foreign minister urges Israel to abandon plans for the "forced transfer of population and demolition of Palestinian housing and infrastructure" in Khirbet Susiya, a village in

the south Hebron hills, along with Abu Nwar, a bedouin community elsewhere in the West Bank.

The plea came days after the US state department issued an equally emotive appeal on behalf of Khirbet Susiya, warning that demolitions and evictions would be "harmful and provocative".

The European intervention - made in a seven-point communique on the stalled Middle East process - will be followed on Wednesday when the Jerusalem envoys of all 28 EU states visit the village for the second time in a month in an

effort to intensify the pressure on Israel.

Demolition of Khirbet Susiya has become a "red line" for the EU that could trigger sanctions such as the separate labelling of Israeli goods originating in West Bank settlements, officials say. "If Israel moves forward with this, it will face

some very serious reactions," one source said.

The EU and US argue that such demolitions - followed by the "forced transfer" of inhabitants - threatens to torpedo any remaining chance of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Stop demolition of Palestinian village, European foreign ministers tell Israel - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11753198/Stop-demolition-of-Palestinian-village-European-foreign-ministers-tell-Israel.html)


http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03382/susya_3382787b.jpg