By Abdullah Asiran

THE HAGUE

The Dutch Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned Israel for demolishing and seizing Palestinian facilities, including those financed by the EU in the West Bank.

The ministry in a statement criticized Israeli injustice in the region, saying the state's new settlement policy -- accelerating demolition procedure -- worries the Netherlands.

The statement said despite the Dutch government's insistence on bilateral talks or talks via EU, Israel had not changed its settlement policy positively.

Israel reportedly also refused to pay compensation to Netherlands after demolishing Dutch water purifier units in May.

In late May, Israeli authorities approved the construction of hundreds of new settlement units in the West Bank, according to Israeli media reports.

Israel’s Supreme Planning Council has approved the construction of 1,500 new housing units throughout the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 claiming it as the Jewish state's "undivided and eternal capital" -- a move never recognized by the international community.

International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement construction there as illegal.