The European Union's envoy to the Middle East says the Israeli regime could face increasing sanctions if its actions lead to the failure of the so-called peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.
Andreas Reinicke said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday that there was a growing support among the 28-member body for the boycott of Israeli settler products.
"There is movement in this direction… I think there is a general understanding among all 28 states that settlements are illegal under international law.”
Last Palestinian-Israeli talks broke down in September 2010 after Tel Aviv refused to freeze its settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli officials have recently announced plans to build thousands of more illegal settler units on Palestinian territory, despite the opposition of the UN and the international community.
The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine has created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Convention, which forbids construction on occupied lands.