Brussels, September 19 (RHC)-- The European Parliament has censured Israel over construction of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian lands. On Thursday, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) slammed Israel for the seizure of large swathes of Palestinian lands, and criticized the 28-member European Union's failure to intervene and stop West Bank land expropriation.

"Israel's violations of international law are well documented in fact on six occasions by the UN Security Council plus the international Court of Justice. The clearest violations are the illegal transfer of 600,000 Israelis to live in illegal settlements in occupied Palestine," Irish MEP Martina Anderson said.

"Europe was practically missing and not living up to its duty in recent months in the Middle east... It is a painful lesson on what to do," Romanian MEP Victor Bostinaru said.

Over the past decades, Israel has tried to change demographic makeup of Jerusalem by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites, and expelling the local Palestinian population.

More than half a million Israelis live in more than 120 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds. The international community considers the settlements as illegal.

Commenting on the recent Israeli military onslaught on the blockaded Gaza Strip, analysts say Israel showed its true colors to the international community during the fifty-day war, and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas emerged victorious at the end.