UK foreign secretary David Lammy joined foreign ministers from 20 other countries in condemning Israeli approval of the E1 settlement plan. The Foreign Office summoned Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely and co-signed a 21-country statement calling the decision unacceptable and a violation of international law, demanding immediate reversal. The department warned implementation would breach law, split a future Palestinian state, and critically undermine a two-state solution. The Foreign Office did not disclose which official met Hotovely or meeting details. Israel defended the approval, with far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich saying the move prevents a Palestinian state and erases the two-state delusion.
The statement, which was signed by 21 countries including the UK, Australia, Canada and France, said: The decision by the Israeli higher planning committee to approve plans for settlement construction in the E1 area, east of Jerusalem, is unacceptable and a violation of international law. We condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms. In a separate statement, the Foreign Office confirmed it had summoned Hotovely in a display of public criticism.
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 department said in a statement. It did not say which minister or official had met Hotovely or what was said in the meeting. The Israeli embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
Israel announced on Wednesday it had approved plans to build the major new block in the West Bank, with the deliberate intention according to Israel's far-right finance minster, Bezalel Smotrich of preventing the creation of a Palestinian state. Smotrich on Wednesday called the decision to approve the settlement a significant step that practically erases the two-state delusion and consolidates the Jewish people's hold on the heart of the land of Israel.
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