The UK slammed on Thursday Israel’s latest settlement expansion plans in the occupied West Bank.
“The UK condemns these actions,” Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer said on the X social media platform. “Settlements are illegal under international law, further imperil the two-state solution, and do not protect Israel.”
The British government last week imposed new sanctions on three people, two illegal settler outposts and two organizations that they said were supporting violence against the Palestinian community in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said at the time that the illegal settlements were spreading across the West Bank with support of the Israeli government.
Israel authorized 22 more Jewish settlements in the West Bank. This would include new settlements and the legalization of outposts already built without government authorization.
Defense Minister Israel Katz called the settlement decision “a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel.”
The Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now said the announcement was the most extensive move of its kind since the 1993 Oslo accords that launched the now-defunct peace process.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want it to be the main part of their future state. Most of the international community views settlements as illegal and an obstacle to resolving the decades-old conflict.
Israel has already built well over 100 settlements across the territory that are home to some 500,000 settlers. The settlements range from small hilltop outposts to fully developed communities with apartment blocks, shopping malls, factories and parks.
The West Bank is home to 3 million Palestinians, who live under Israeli military rule.
