Brussels and the members of the European Union must “unequivocally” oppose the Israeli government’s plans and legal initiatives to unilaterally alter the status and borders of Jerusalem, where Israel has “drastically” accelerated pressure on the Palestinian population in the last year, according to a confidential report seen by EL PAÍS.
In their latest annual report on the occupied Jerusalem, the European heads of mission to the Palestinian Authority (in East Jerusalem and Ramallah) warn that the events of 2022 “highlighted the growing fragility of the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem, the exacerbation of the socioeconomic conditions of the Palestinians, and the need for their protection.”
The report underscores their “separation from the political, social and economic life of the city,” the demolition of homes, the construction of new housing in settlements, and the plans to create new ones in the eastern part of the city, which Israeli occupation seized in the 1967 Six-Day War and illegally annexed.
The diplomatic representatives also highlight the “significant” increase in arrests and operations by the Israeli forces, the “pressure on Palestinian institutions” such as schools; the erosion of the status quo in the Al-Aqsa mosque, and the growing attacks on Christian holy places.
These are “general trends” that have already been noted on previous occasions, says the report, but which intensified in 2022.
There are around 340,000 Palestinians living in Jerusalem, representing 38.5% of the city’s population, yet only 15% of the local budget is allocated to their neighborhoods. Only 45% are adequately and legally connected to the drinking water network, notes the report.
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