The European Union said on Monday that Israeli settlement plans in East Jerusalem threaten to permanently change the character of many holy sites and undermine the existing religious balance in the city.

This came in a joint statement by the European Union representative in the Palestinian territories, Alexander Stutzmann, with the heads of missions of the European Union countries in Jerusalem and Ramallah, which Anadolu reviewed.

The heads of European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah, in East Jerusalem, met on Monday with representatives of many Christian churches located on the Mount of Olives in the city.

The statement said: “A number of projects planned in and around the Old City of Jerusalem threaten to permanently change the character of many holy sites and undermine the existing religious balance.”

He added: "These projects include expanding the National Park on the Mount of Olives, and a plan to build a cable car in the heart of historic Jerusalem."

He warned that “pursuing the implementation of these plans could have a harmful impact on the holy places, pilgrimage routes, and the ability of Jerusalem communities to survive, and would also constitute a serious threat to the special status of Jerusalem, as well as the peaceful coexistence between all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem".

The joint statement noted: “The European Union calls for the preservation of the status quo, including Christian holy sites, where the special status and character of Jerusalem and its Old City, and the sanctity of its holy places must be preserved.”

The Israeli authorities recently announced a plan to expand what they call the “National Park” on the Mount of Olives, confiscating church lands in the area.

It also announced a few days ago its decision to evacuate 30 families from their homes in the Bab al-Maghariba area near the Old City, and to confiscate the land on which the homes were built, with an area of 8.7 dunams, for the purpose of establishing a station for the cable car.

The light air train starts from West Jerusalem, reaches the Mount of Olives, and from there to the Mughrabi Gate area near the Buraq Wall, which the Jews call the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The light rail poles are erected on Palestinian lands, some of which belong to the church.

Israel rejected Palestinian objections to the expansion of the National Park and the cable car.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967.

The Palestinians insist that East Jerusalem is the capital of the future Palestinian state, while Israel says that Jerusalem, both its eastern and western parts, is its capital.

This coincides with a devastating war waged by the Israeli army on Gaza since last October 7, which as of Sunday evening left 17,997 killed and 49,229 wounded, most of them children and women, massive destruction of infrastructure and an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” according to the statement. Official Palestinian and UN sources