The Palestinian Authority urged the European Union to impose sanctions against Israel in response to the settlement construction in the Palestinian territories, a senior official said on Wednesday.

"Meetings will be held with European officials this week, in order to activate what was issued by European powers denouncing the Israeli settlement activities," Abdul Rahim al-Farra, the Palestinian ambassador to the EU, told the official Palestinian radio station Voice of Palestine.

"We will demand the EU to impose sanctions against Israel because it has not stopped its settlement activities, and it only understands the language of sanctions," he added.

Last Friday, major European powers issued a statement condemning Israel's approval of building thousands of new settlement units in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain called on Israel to stop its settlement activities and abide by the UN Security Council Resolution 2334.