European countries condemn Palestinian attacks, urge Israel to stop expanding settlements

Six European countries on Saturday condemned recent Palestinian militant attacks that killed Israeli citizens in the occupied West Bank and called on Israel to halt expansion of settlements there.

"We urge the Israeli government to reverse its recent decision to advance the construction of more than 7,000 settlement building units across the occupied West Bank and to legalise settlement outposts," Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Poland and Spain said in a joint statement.

On Friday, the European Union's envoy to the Palestinians called for accountability and for perpetrators to be brought to justice after a rampage by Israeli settlers in which a Palestinian was killed and dozens of houses, shops and cars were torched.