A general view at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament on Wednesday passed a resolution lambasting Israel for its continuing settlement policies in the West Bank, urging as well the prosecution of Israeli military officials for alleged war crimes against Palestinians.

Forty-one members of the committee voted in favor of the resolution draft, put forward by the committee’s rapporteur, Evin Incir of the Swedish Social Democrats party. Twenty-four parliamentarians opposed it and nine abstained. The text invoked a December 2022 resolution by the United Nations, initiated by the Palestinians, requesting the International Criminal Court (ICC) to formulate an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s control of Palestinian territories.

The resolution expressed concern “regarding the Israeli government’s decision to impose punitive measures against the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society, such as withholding funds and implementing a moratorium on construction plans in (West Bank) Area C.” It referred to Israel’s practice of withholding tax funds it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), over the Palestinian policy of paying stipends to families of imprisoned terrorists — a practice that is the subject of US legislation restricting US funding of the PA. It also criticized Israel’s policy of demolishing homes and buildings constructed without building permits, including schools in small Palestinian villages funded by the EU.

Countries who moved their embassies in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which the Palestinians also claim as their capital, were sharply criticized in the resolution, which spoke of “regretting the unilateral decisions of some states to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital and move their embassies.”

“Palestinians have lived under occupation more than 50 years,” Incir tweeted following the resolution’s passage. “The European Union must strengthen its cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, help the people and act to end the occupation.”

The resolution is now scheduled for a plenary vote in July.