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Israeli Settlement Plan Would Mark ‘Flagrant’ Breach of International Law, UK’s Lammy Says

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy looks on as he meets with US Vice President JD Vance (not pictured) at Chevening House in Sevenoaks, Britain, August 8, 2025. (Reuters)
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy looks on as he meets with US Vice President JD Vance (not pictured) at Chevening House in Sevenoaks, Britain, August 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israeli Settlement Plan Would Mark ‘Flagrant’ Breach of International Law, UK’s Lammy Says

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy looks on as he meets with US Vice President JD Vance (not pictured) at Chevening House in Sevenoaks, Britain, August 8, 2025. (Reuters)
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy looks on as he meets with US Vice President JD Vance (not pictured) at Chevening House in Sevenoaks, Britain, August 8, 2025. (Reuters)

British foreign minister David Lammy said on Wednesday that a widely condemned Israeli settlement plan would, if implemented, constitute a breach of international law and risk dividing a future Palestinian state.

The E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, received the final go-ahead from a defense ministry planning commission on Wednesday.

"If implemented, it would divide a Palestinian state in two, mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution," Lammy said in a post on X, calling on the Israeli government to reverse the decision.

The project would effectively cut the West Bank in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.

Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to US pressure during previous administrations. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a former settler leader, cast the approval as a rebuke to Western countries that announced their plans to recognize a Palestinian state in recent weeks.

In July, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain was prepared to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly unless Israel takes a number of steps to improve life for Palestinians.

Starmer said Britain would make the move unless Israel took substantive steps to allow more aid to enter Gaza, made clear there will be no annexation of the West Bank and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two-state solution - a Palestinian state coexisting in peace alongside Israel.

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Arab World

Military Leader Survives Bombing in Aden

Hamdi Shukri Al-Subaihi has a prominent role in establishing security in areas controlled by his forces, especially in Lahj (X)
Hamdi Shukri Al-Subaihi has a prominent role in establishing security in areas controlled by his forces, especially in Lahj (X)
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Military Leader Survives Bombing in Aden

Hamdi Shukri Al-Subaihi has a prominent role in establishing security in areas controlled by his forces, especially in Lahj (X)
Hamdi Shukri Al-Subaihi has a prominent role in establishing security in areas controlled by his forces, especially in Lahj (X)

A car bomb explosion in Yemen’s Aden on Wednesday targeted the convoy of Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri Al-Subaihi, commander of the Second Division in the Giants Brigades, and one of the most prominent leaders whose forces contributed to imposing security in Aden.

According to information, al-Subaihi survived the bombing which occurred when a military motorcade transporting him passed through the Jaula area.

The bombing came a day after local authorities in Mukalla, the largest city in Hadhramaut, revealed secret prisons and explosives used in assassinations that were in the possession of groups from the Southern Transitional Council run by the Emirates before the latter's departure from Yemen about three weeks ago.

The incident brought security concerns back to the forefront, at a time when the Saudi-led coalition to support legitimacy is seeking to restore stability to the southern governorates and unify military and security forces after dissolving what was called the "Transitional Council."

Arab World

Egyptian Gaza Relief Group Says Israeli Strike on Photographers Was Deliberate

An aid distribution point in northern Gaza operated by the Egyptian Relief Committee (Egyptian Relief Committee)
An aid distribution point in northern Gaza operated by the Egyptian Relief Committee (Egyptian Relief Committee)
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Egyptian Gaza Relief Group Says Israeli Strike on Photographers Was Deliberate

An aid distribution point in northern Gaza operated by the Egyptian Relief Committee (Egyptian Relief Committee)
An aid distribution point in northern Gaza operated by the Egyptian Relief Committee (Egyptian Relief Committee)

The spokesperson for the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza, Mohamed Mansour, said Israel deliberately targeted three photojournalists while they were carrying out a humanitarian mission inside the Netzarim camp, an area located about six kilometers away from Israeli army forces.

Mansour told Asharq Al-Awsat that the attack was “a continuation of Israeli pressure on the committee’s work since it began operating, as part of the occupation’s efforts to tighten restrictions on anyone attempting to provide relief work and humanitarian services to the people of Gaza.”

The Israeli army killed three photojournalists on Wednesday who were working as a media team for the Egyptian Relief Committee for Gaza.

Field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the victims were Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat, and Anas Ghneim.

They were carrying out a filming mission using a small drone and cameras to document stages of work at camps that the Egyptian committee is helping to establish.

Mansour stressed that “the targeting of the photographers will only increase the committee’s determination to provide relief services and shelter to the Palestinian people.”

He said the committee would continue its work as usual to be “a genuine support for the people of the Strip, amid extremely complex security conditions.”

Israeli Army Radio reported, citing sources, that Egypt sent an angry message to Israel following the attack in Gaza in which Palestinians working for the Egyptian committee for the reconstruction were killed.

According to the radio report, Egypt expressed its protest that the attack took place outside the boundaries of the so-called yellow line, in an area that does not pose a threat to Israeli forces.

For its part, the Israeli army claimed it had targeted suspects operating a “Hamas-affiliated drone” in central Gaza.

In a statement on Wednesday, the army said: “Following the identification of the drone and due to the threat it posed to the forces, the Israeli army precisely struck the suspects who were operating the drone.”

The army said the details were under review.

Arab World

Israel Launches Wave of Fresh Strikes on Lebanon

Smoke and sparks ascend from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Kfour on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke and sparks ascend from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Kfour on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Launches Wave of Fresh Strikes on Lebanon

Smoke and sparks ascend from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Kfour on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke and sparks ascend from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Kfour on January 21, 2026. (AFP)

Israel launched fresh strikes on what it said were Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon after raids earlier Wednesday killed two people, the latest violence despite a year-old ceasefire with the group.

The state-run National News Agency said Israeli warplanes launched raids on buildings in several south Lebanon towns including Qanarit and Kfour, after the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings to residents identifying sites it intended to strike there.

An AFP photographer was slightly wounded along with two other journalists who were working near the site of a heavy strike in Qanarit.

The Israeli army said it was striking Hezbollah targets in response to the group's "repeated violations of the ceasefire understandings".

Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming Hezbollah.

But Israel has criticized the Lebanese army's progress as insufficient and has kept up regular strikes, usually saying it is targeting members of the Iran-backed group or its infrastructure.

Earlier Wednesday, the health ministry said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the town of Zahrani, in the Sidon district, killed one person.

An AFP correspondent saw a charred car on a main road with debris strewn across the area and emergency workers in attendance.

Later, the ministry said another strike targeting a vehicle in the town of Bazuriyeh in the Tyre district killed one person.

Israel said it struck Hezbollah operatives in both areas.

A Lebanese army statement decried the Israeli targeting of "civilian buildings and homes" in a "blatant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty" and the ceasefire deal.

It also said such attacks "hinder the army's efforts" to complete the disarmament plan.

This month, the army said it had completed the first phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah, covering the area south of the Litani river, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border.

Most of Wednesday's strikes were north of the river.

More than 350 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the ceasefire, according to an AFP tally of health ministry reports.

The November 2024 truce sought to end more than a year of hostilities, but Israel accuses Hezbollah of rearming, while the group has rejected calls to surrender its weapons.