London, December 26: Britain, Canada, Germany and a group of other countries on Wednesday condemned Israel’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying the move violated international law and risked fuelling further instability in the region.
Israel’s security cabinet approved the new settlements earlier this week, prompting criticism from a number of Western and European governments.
In a joint statement, Britain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain called on Israel to reverse the decision and halt the expansion of settlements.
“We recall that such unilateral actions, as part of a wider intensification of the settlement policies in the West Bank, not only violate international law but also risk fuelling instability,” the statement said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected the criticism in a post on X, saying the decision was aimed at addressing Israel’s security needs.
“Foreign governments will not restrict the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel, and any such call is morally wrong and discriminatory against Jews,” Saar said.
The West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, is home to millions of Palestinians and hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers. Most countries consider Israeli settlements there to be illegal under international law, a position Israel disputes.
