UK, France among 21 countries denouncing 'Israel's' West Bank settlement plan

A coalition of 21 countries, including Britain and France, issued a joint statement Thursday denouncing 'Israel’s' approval of a major settlement project in the West Bank as “unacceptable and a violation of international law.”

The approval, announced Wednesday, concerns the E1 area, a roughly 12-square-kilometre tract of land located just east of Jerusalem. The plan envisions constructing approximately 3,400 homes on this highly sensitive territory, which lies between Jerusalem and the 'Israeli' settlement of Maale Adumim.

“We condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms,” the statement read. Other signatories included Australia, Canada, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden, as well as the European Commission’s foreign affairs chief.

The statement highlighted comments by 'Israel’s' far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said the plan “will make a two-state solution impossible by dividing any Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem.”

“This brings no benefits to the Israeli people,” the foreign ministers said. “Instead, it risks undermining security and fuels further violence and instability, taking us further away from peace. The government of Israel still has an opportunity to stop the E1 plan going any further. We encourage them to urgently retract this plan.”

'Israel’s' settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have received 'Israeli' planning approval.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah also condemned the move, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticized the decision. In response, Britain summoned 'Israel’s' ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, to formally protest the approval.

“If implemented, these settlement plans would be a flagrant breach of international law and would divide a future Palestinian state in two, critically undermining a two-state solution,” the British foreign office said in a statement.