UN, UK condemn 'Israeli' settlement plan in West Bank

The United Nations has called on 'Israel' to halt a settlement project that would divide the West Bank and isolate it from East Jerusalem, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Thursday.

“This project will end the prospects for a two-state solution,” Dujarric told reporters, according to Reuters. He added that settlements violate international law and further entrench the occupation.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy echoed the criticism, describing 'Israel’s' plans for the E1 settlement area as a “flagrant violation of international law” that would split a future Palestinian state in two. “These plans must be stopped immediately,” he said in an emailed statement.

Meanwhile, 'Israeli' far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Thursday that construction would begin on a long-delayed settlement project that he claimed would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state.

The plan includes 3,401 new homes connecting an existing West Bank settlement to Jerusalem. Smotrich said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US President Donald Trump supported reviving the E1 project, although no official confirmation has been provided.