Israeli Defense Minister has ordered to halt cooperation with EU officials in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It came as a response to European Commission’s guidelines that banned funding of Israel’s controversial settlement program in occupied territories.
Moshe Ya’alon’s move, which was reported by several media agencies citing unnamed Israeli officials, effectively banned any assistance to joint infrastructure projects in West Bank’s Area C.
IDF will no longer grant new permits or renew existing ones for EU construction projects in the territory, which makes the largest of the three West Bank areas created with Oslo II Accord in 1995, has 300,000 Israeli settlers against some 150,000 Palestinians, and is held under Israeli civil and military control.
Some of the EU-led projects in the West Bank which will face the ax include Palestinian Authority police training program and a waste removal program. Transfers of the EU donor funds to projects in the Palestinian territories have already been frozen, according to reports.
Ya’alon also voiced plans to limit the movement of EU officials to the Gaza Strip and back to Israel through the Erez Crossing, which reportedly includes refusal to renew transit visas to these officials.
Israeli defense officials in the West Bank have stopped holding work meetings with EU representatives, media reports said. more
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