Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Malki on Tuesday urged the European Union to deter Israel from persisting in its crimes against the Palestinian people.

Malki made this appeal during a meeting in Ramallah with his Slovenian counterpart Anze Logar.

Touching on Israeli crimes and violations, the top Palestinian diplomat pointed that such crimes and violations, including land confiscation and home demolitions, reach their peak in Jerusalem and Area C, which accounts for 60 percent of the West Bank territory, as he referred to risks of building the new colonial settlement of Givat Eviatar atop Mount Sabih in the Nablus area, which has become a scene of daily protests against decades of Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid.

He urged the international community, particularly the EU, to take immediate action to deter Israel from persisting with these crimes and take practical steps in this regard instead of just issuing statements of condemnation.

He also urged them to pressure Israel into lifting the 14-year-blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and link Gaza reconstruction to an international position guaranteeing that Israel no longer carries out a devastating onslaught on the Strip.

Logar, whose visit to Palestine was his first, stressed that his country would continue to support Palestinian institutions and the principle of the two-state solution, as he expressed his hopes for strengthening bilateral relations, especially in the field of trade.