France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain urged in a joint statement the occupation to freeze its decision to build 540 settlement units in north Bethlehem and to stop its settlement expansion policy in the occupied Palestinian lands.

They also stated that the execution of the settlement establishment decision between the east side of Al-Quds and Bethlehem would result in greater damage to the establishment of a Palestinian state with Al-Quds as the capital of both 'Israel' and Palestine.