Paris - The French presidency of the European Union on Monday firmly criticized Israel's demolition of Arab-owned houses in East Jerusalem.

"The European Union expresses its deep concern about the operations of destruction of Palestinian houses carried out in recent days by Israeli authorities in several quarters of East Jerusalem," a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The demolition operations are "illegal with regard to international law," the EU said, and then called on Israel to halt the activities "as soon as possible."

The statement also urged Israel to refrain from all unilateral measures, "particularly in Jerusalem," that could be detrimental to ongoing negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state.

France currently holds the rotating six-month EU presidency. (dpa)