Closing ranks with Washington, the European Union expressed concern Thursday over plans by Israel to build 3,500 new housing units in Maale Adumim _ home to 30,000 Israelis in the desert three miles (five kilometers) east of Jerusalem _ and expand two other settlement blocks in the West Bank. The EU said it deplored "the negative impact" that the plan, announced last month, will have at a time "when a genuine window of opportunity exists to relaunch the peace process." "The continuation of settlement activity by Israel would be a violation of international humanitarian law," it said in a statement. It added that the move would run counter to Israel's commitments under the roadmap to peace plan, authored by the United States, the EU, Russia and the U.N. "Although the European Union is encouraged by the prospect of the dismantling of settlements in Gaza and parts of the West Bank, it calls on Israel to observe its obligations, to freeze all settlement activity and to dismantle outposts," the EU statement said. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government plans to evacuate Gaza this summer, relocating 1,600 Israeli families at an estimated cost of US$1 billion (¤780 million). The United States and the EU do not want Gaza families resettled into new homes in the West Bank. Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Israel's plan to expand Maale Adumim was "at odds with American policy" and could threaten peace with the Palestinians.
