European Union warns of violence in Middle-East without political progress

Jerusalem: The European Union's new foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini warned Friday of a new wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence if there is no progress towards peace talks.

Speaking in Jerusalem on her first visit to the region since taking up the EU's top diplomatic post, Mogherini said there was a real "urgency" to pick up and advance the moribund peace process.

"The risk is that if we do not move forward on the political track, we will go back... again to violence," she told reporters at a joint news conference with her Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman.

"That's why I see the urgency in moving forward."

But she also flagged up Israel's settlement building on lands the Palestinians want for a future state as an "obstacle" to a negotiated peace.

"New settlements are an obstacle as we see (it) but we also see that there might be a political will... to resume the talks and specially (to) make sure that these talks bring to results," she said.