Five European countries on Friday called on Israel to immediately stop new settlement plans in the West Bank.
This was stated in a joint statement by the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, following the approval of Tel Aviv to build 4,948 settlement units on the occupied Palestinian lands in the West Bank.
“We are extremely concerned by the decision of the Israeli authorities to build 4,900 housing units in settlements located in the occupied West Bank”, according to the statement.
The statement stressed that the settlement expansion decision violates international law and threatens the feasibility of the two-state solution for a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
The five countries also warned Israel that the new settlements will be counterproductive, especially following the normalization agreements that Israel recently signed with the UAE and Bahrain.
They demanded an immediate cessation of settlement construction as well as forced evictions and the destruction of Palestinian buildings in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Israeli authorities approved on Wednesday and Thursday the construction of 4,948 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank. This is the largest record of construction since the beginning of this year 2020.
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