MEPs welcome the exchange of letters between the two parties initiated on 17 April 2012 and the joint statement by Israel and the Palestinian Authority of 12 May 2012, in which they state their commitment to achieving peace. However, MEPs also voice grave concerns about developments in Area C of the West Bank and in East Jerusalem.

The resolution was passed with 291 votes in favour; 274 against and 39 abstentions.

The resolution calls on Israel to meet its obligations under international humanitarian law by securing an immediate end to house demolitions, evictions and forced displacement of Palestinians, facilitating their free movement, ensuring fair distribution of water to meet their needs and improving their access to social services, in particular education and public health, in Area C and in East Jerusalem. The Palestinian authorities are also encouraged to do more to improve living conditions in the two areas.

MEPs urge that EU-Israeli bilateral agreements be properly enforced, so as to ensure that goods from Israel’s illegal West Bank settlements are not exported to the EU under the preferential terms of the EU-Israel Association agreement. They also call on the European External Action Service and the European Commission to investigate allegations of damage done to EU-funded structures in the occupied territories and report back to Parliament.

Parliament reiterates that only a peaceful and non-violent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be sustainable and that it should not affect the dignity of either side. The EU will not recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem, unless they are agreed by the parties themselves, MEPs underline.

They also urge the EU and its member states to play a more active political role in achieving a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians and voice support for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s efforts to create credible prospects for re-launching the peace process.

“All settlement construction – whether on private Palestinian land or elsewhere in occupied Palestinian territory – is contrary to international law,” said a statement issued by the office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry.

According to media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the construction of the new units hours after the parliament rejected a bill to legalize settlement outposts. Serry said the announcement is “deeply troubling” and reiterated his recent warning to the Security Council that “if the parties do not grasp the current opportunity, they should realize the implication is not merely slowing progress toward a two-State solution. Instead, we could be moving down the path toward a one-State reality, which would also move us further away from regional peace in the spirit of the Arab Peace Initiative.”

Meanwhile, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) released a study in conjunction with the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ), describing the detrimental impact of the West Bank Barrier on the environment and Palestinian refugees.

The study targeted over 170 communities that have been directly affected as well as farmers owning land behind the Barrier. Land degradation, severe flooding and destruction of water sources are cited among the most devastating consequences of the Barrier, along with reductions in livestock due to limited grazing space, which significantly affect people’s livelihoods.

“The research presented today demonstrates once more that the Barrier not only has a devastating impact on Palestine refugees’ livelihoods, but also on the surrounding environment,” said the West Bank director of UNRWA operations, Felipe Sanchez.

The Israelis and the Palestinians have yet to resume direct negotiations since talks stalled in September 2010 after Israel refused to extend its freeze on settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Negotiators from both sides began preparatory talks at the start of January in Amman, under the facilitation of King Abdullah II of Jordan and that country’s Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh, with a view to a resumption of direct talks.