EU warns Israeli E1 project undermines two-state solution

The European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned on Wednesday that Israel's E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank would further undermine prospects for a two-state solution, as settler violence and Israeli settlement expansion continued to raise concerns over the safety of Palestinians.

The UN's humanitarian office also expressed deep concern over the safety and welfare of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory.

"The E1 settlements will further undermine the prospect of the two-state solution by driving a wedge through the West Bank," Kallas told a press conference following an informal meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Wicklow, Ireland.

Israel advanced the controversial E1 settlement project in August by issuing a tender for 1,234 housing units.

Published online by Israel's Ministry of Construction and Housing, the tender covers part of a broader plan to build 3,401 housing units in the E1 area, east of Jerusalem.

"Settler violence against Palestinians continues to rise, and too often goes unchecked," Kallas said, adding that the EU would continue to support the Gaza peace plan and work with partners toward a two-state solution.

Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire in a village north of Ramallah in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health on Wednesday.

Amin Abu Alia, head of the village council, said Israeli settlers and soldiers entered the village in the evening, attacked two houses and stole sheep.

"When residents tried to confront the settlers while they were stealing the sheep, the snipers opened live fire at them," he said, adding that two minors later died while being transferred to a hospital.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the victims as 19-year-old Omar Mohammad Naji al-Na'ssan and 16-year-old Khalil Rassem Khalil Shehadeh.

The Israeli military had not commented on the incident as of Wednesday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday that its humanitarian partners were deeply concerned by reports that the entire community of Khirbet at Tabban in the West Bank had been destroyed by Israeli forces.

Khirbet at Tabban is one of 13 herding communities in the Masafer Yatta area of Hebron.

Together, the communities are home to more than 1,000 people and are located within the 18% of the West Bank that Israeli authorities have designated as "firing zones" for military training, according to OCHA.