Denouncing a "
de facto annexation
" of the West Bank by Israel, more than 400 European parliamentarians are calling on Monday March 1, in a letter consulted by AFP, their countries to take advantage of the arrival of Joe Biden in Washington to mobilize against the colonization of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
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, the conflict continues in series
On the initiative of several former Israeli officials, 442 deputies and senators from twenty European countries signed this letter sent overnight from Sunday to Monday to the foreign ministries of various European countries.
"
Developments on the ground are clearly tending towards a rapidly progressing reality of de facto annexation, especially with the expansion of settlements and the demolitions of Palestinian structures,
" write the parliamentarians, including British MP Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the Labor Party. , and the French Jean-Luc Mélenchon (radical left).
“
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, last year saw the highest number of demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures in four years,
” they continue.
Thursday, several European chanceries had asked Israel to return the equipment donated by their countries and confiscated from the Bedouins of Hamsa al-Baqa, a hamlet in the north of the Jordan Valley considered "
illegal
" by the Jewish state.
The Israeli army has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967, where approximately 3.1 million Palestinians and more than 675,000 Israelis live today in settlements deemed illegal by international law.
Israeli colonization has accelerated in recent years under the leadership of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with the benevolence of his ally in Washington, Donald Trump.
New US President Joe Biden has been critical of the settlements and pledged to step up efforts to create a Palestinian state.
"
The start of the Biden presidency provides an essential opportunity to act,
" say MEPs.
