RAMALLAH, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Sunday welcomed a letter signed by the European Union diplomats to protest against Israel's construction plans in an East Jerusalem area, urging the EU's "actionable decisions."

On July 31, representatives of the EU and ambassadors of 15 European countries sent a protest letter to the Israeli Foreign Ministry on the Israeli government's decision to start the construction in the settlement of Givat Hamatos.

Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee, urged the European diplomats to "adopt actionable decisions" in order to deter Israel.

"We believe that the EU, as well as the governments of these 15 states, should adopt actionable decisions that would deter Israel from persisting on the path of illegality, impunity, and de facto annexation," Ashrawi said in a statement.

"Rhetorical opposition has not deterred Israel. In fact, Israel is emboldened to escalate its criminal actions precisely because it is confident that opposition will not move from the verbal to the practical," she added.

"If implemented, these Israeli plans would completely sever occupied Jerusalem from its natural Palestinian surrounding and cut the occupied West Bank in half," she warned.

Palestinians also said that Israeli plans to expand settlements in the area around Maale Adumim settlement poses serious threats on the territorial and geopolitical integrity of their future state.

Israeli settlements in the occupied territory is deemed illegal by most world powers. Enditem

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