The European Union has no intention of imposing sanctions on Israel if it takes steps to block a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the EU's new foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Monday.

European diplomats have said the EU is looking at new ways to press Israel to halt its building of settlements on land the Palestinians want for a state, as frustration over the construction programme reaches a new high.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz said on Monday it had obtained an internal EU document on sanctions that could be taken against Israel if it took actions that would prevent a viable Palestinian state. They included possible measures against European companies working in settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, it said.

Mogherini said the EU had no plan of this kind.