The European Union (EU) has censured the Israeli regime for giving the green light to plans for the construction of thousands of more settler units across the occupied West Bank.

“Israel’s continued policy of settlement expansion is illegal under international law,” said Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, in a statement on Friday.

Mogherini added that the decision to build more than 3,000 new settlement units in the West Bank could “further complicate the prospects for a viable two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The EU calls on both sides to engage in a meaningful process in view of reaching a negotiated two-state solution, and reiterates its readiness to support them, together with its international and regional partners,” the statement said.

“This is the only way to fulfill the legitimate aspirations of both parties and to achieve just and lasting peace,” it noted.

Last week, an Israeli panel served up plans for building a total of 3,178 units located in a number of settlements across the occupied West Bank.

A view of Israeli settlement Beit El in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on January 25, 2017 (Photo by AFP).

The move is a blatant violation of the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 2334, which demands that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem” al-Quds.

The resolution, adopted last year, also states that the building of settlements by Israel has “no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law.”

Since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in January, the regime in Tel Aviv has stepped up its construction of settler units on occupied Palestinian land in a blatant violation of international law.

The latest developments come days after a visit by Trump to the occupied territories.

About 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.

The Palestinian Authority wants the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital. The continued expansion of Israeli settlements is one of the major obstacles to the establishment of peace in the Middle East.