The European Union has recommended that sanctions be imposed on the Israeli regime over its settlement expansion policies in the occupied Palestinian territories and its strict security measures in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

In a recently-released report prepared by heads of diplomatic missions of EU member states in the Palestinian Authority, the 28-nation bloc described al-Quds as a city gripped by the worst “polarization and violence” since the second Intifada (uprising) against the Zionist regime a decade ago.

The report noted that the Israeli regime’s construction of settler units is further compounding the problem in the occupied Palestinian lands.

The document also lashed out at Israel for its “heavy-handed policing and punitive measures” against Palestinian people, “including evictions and home demolitions.”

The EU report further warned businesses of the dangers of engaging in trade with Israeli firms that are located in the occupied territories.

A Palestinian holds a slingshot during clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on March 28, 2015. © AFP

Israel, however, has rejected the report, with a regime spokesman saying, “This is so extremely one-sided a report that it distorts reality beyond comprehension.”

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank including East al-Quds in 1967.

Much of the international community regards the settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in the 1967 war and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied land.

Israel has also over the past months stepped up restrictions on the access of Muslim worshippers to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds.

Palestinians consider the Israeli measures as part of the regime’s plan to Judaize and desecrate the holy Islamic site.

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