Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh welcomed the European Union's statement describing settlements in the Palestinian territories as illegal.

The Palestinian official called on the Israeli occupation to stop announcing the construction of more settlements, including in East Jerusalem.

During his European tour to mobilize political and financial support for the Palestinian people and their cause, Shtayyeh called on the United States and European countries to take firm positions to stop settlement expansion in the occupied territories, to preserve the two-state solution.

He also called on the European Union countries to put pressure on Israel to stop its violations against the Palestinian people and to respect international law, human rights and the agreements signed with it.

He said that the Israeli policy, which is based on destroying the two-state solution by promoting settlements, is pushing for a reality in which Israel becomes an apartheid state on the ground.

The Palestinian prime minister called on European countries to take a decision to prevent the entry of Israeli settlement products to European markets.

In turn, Vice President of the European Parliament Pedro Silva Pereira renewed, during his meeting with Shtayyeh at the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels, the European Union's support for the two-state solution and its opposition to settlements in the West Bank.

On Monday, Shtayyeh began a European tour, with the aim of mobilizing political and financial support for the Palestinian Authority, according to a previous statement issued by government spokesman Ibrahim Melhem.

Settlement programs

On Sunday, Israel announced the construction of new settlement units in the occupied West Bank.

At the time, Shtayyeh denounced this announcement, and said that Israel places the world, especially the United States, with great responsibilities to confront and challenge the fait accompli imposed by Israel on a systematic basis.

He added that the announcement of the construction of new settlement units, "and the legalization of two new settlements and settlement units in the heart of the old city of Hebron (south of the West Bank) is nothing but a blatant aggression against our land."

The Israeli authorities intend to approve the construction of more than 3,100 settlement units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, according to the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post.

The newspaper said last week that the Higher Planning Council, affiliated with the Israeli Civil Administration, will meet soon in order to approve the construction of these settlement units.

Data from the Israeli human rights movement, Peace Now, indicate that there are about 666,000 Israeli settlers, 145 large settlements and 140 random outposts (not licensed by the Israeli government) in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

On Sunday, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates warned against "building new settlement units in the occupied Palestinian territories."

The official spokesman for the ministry, Ambassador Haitham Abu Al-Ful, affirmed that "the move forward with the approval of the implementation of a plan to build 3,000 new settlement units is a rejected and condemned step and represents a violation of international law and relevant Security Council resolutions."