UK slams new “Israeli” settlements as “deliberate obstacle” to Palestinian state

“Israel's” approval of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank is a "deliberate obstacle to Palestinian statehood", Britain's Middle East minister Hamish Falconer said Thursday.

"The UK condemns these actions," he wrote on X. "Settlements are illegal under
international law, further imperil the two state solution, and do not protect Israel."

“Israel” announced on Thursday the creation of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, putting further strain on relations with the international community already taxed by the war on Gaza.

“Israeli” settlements in the West Bank are regularly condemned by the United Nations as illegal under international law, and are seen as one of the main obstacles to a lasting peace.

The decision to establish more, taken by the country's security cabinet, was announced by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, himself a settler, and Defence Minister “Israel” Katz, who is in charge of managing the communities.

"We have made a historic decision for the development of settlements: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing settlement in the north of Samaria, and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel," Smotrich said on X, using the “Israeli” terms for the southern and northern West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967.

"Next step: sovereignty!" he added.

Katz said the initiative "changes the face of the region and shapes the future of settlement for years to come".

Not all the 22 settlements are new, however. Some are existing outposts, while others are neighbourhoods of settlements that will become independent communities, according to the left-wing “Israeli” NGO Peace Now.

On Telegram, the right-wing Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the move a "once-in-a-generation decision", and said it "includes the establishment of four communities along the eastern border with Jordan, as part of strengthening Israel's eastern backbone".