EU voices protest over Israeli policies in West Bank

EU Ambassador to Israel Andrew Standley  has submitted a formal protest to the Foreign Ministry over evacuating Bedouins and tearing down Palestinians' houses in the E1 area near the West Bank settlement Ma'aleh Adumim, Haaretz reported on Friday. He also expressed profound concern over the deterioration in the Palestinian residents' situation in the West Bank's C areas, which are under Israel's security control. He cited the rise in the number of houses demolished by the Civil Administration, according to the Israeli daily.  The E1 area is located between Ma'aleh Adumim and Jerusalem.  The European foreign ministers received a report compiled by the European consuls in Ramallah and East Jerusalem on the situation of the Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli control.  The report cited a rise in the number of Palestinian houses torn down by the Israeli authorities and the growing economic distress of the Palestinians living in Area C.  They have also received information from human rights organizations saying Israel is planning to evacuate some 2,500 Bedouins of the Jahalin tribe from their residence in the E1 area near Ma'aleh Adumim to the garbage removal site near the village of Abu Dis, according to Haartez.