Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said yesterday that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible.

“Settlement activity in East Jerusalem seriously jeopardizes the possibility of Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both states,” she said during a speech at the European Parliament plenary debate on the situation in Israel and Palestine.

“Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law; they constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible” Mogherini remarked.

She continued, “There will not be peace without a strong political commitment by both sides and by the international community. On the European Union side, we have always been and we will continue to be ready to support, to encourage, to accompany all efforts to build peace and security and a negotiated two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.”

“Yet we should all know that the two-state solution remains – I am profoundly convinced of this – the best and the only realistic chance for peace and also for security in the Holy Places.”