**The EU’s new foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has begun a Middle East tour amid tension over an Israeli housing project in East Jerusalem.**The EU is part of the Middle East Quartet, which has condemned Israel’s plan to build 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem.
Egypt says it has asked Lady Ashton to convey to Israel “the international community’s anger” over the project.
She plans to visit the Gaza Strip after Egypt, the first leg of her tour.
Lady Ashton, officially the EU’s High Representative, held talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit in Cairo on Monday. She will later travel to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
The EU is the largest aid donor to the Palestinians, providing 1bn euros (£905m; $1.4bn) annually - half of it from the European Commission.
Pressure for peace
Speaking before her tour, Lady Ashton said “there is a sense of urgency at the moment and a need to make progress on the Arab-Israeli conflict”.
She said she was “hopeful” of visiting Gaza.
“I want to see for myself how we are spending our money and what kind of impact it has on the ground,” she said.
The Quartet, which also includes the UN, Russia and the US, has called for an urgent resumption of dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians. It will review the situation at a meeting in Moscow on Friday.
Last month the European Court of Justice ruled that Israeli goods made in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank cannot be considered Israeli.
It meant goods made by Israelis or Jews in the West Bank will not benefit from a trade deal giving Israel preferential access to EU markets.
Jewish settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.