The United Kingdom, Australia and Japan are among 21 countries that have condemned Israel’s plans to build a controversial illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, which they say renders a future two-state solution for Palestinians impossible.
“We condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms,” the 21 countries said in a joint statement on Thursday, describing Israel’s construction plans as a “violation of international law”.
The statement follows news this week that Israel will formally move forward with a settlement on a 12-square-kilometre (4.6-square-mile) tract of land east of Jerusalem known as “East 1” or “E1”.
The development, which will include 3,400 new homes for Israeli settlers, will cut off much of the occupied West Bank from occupied East Jerusalem while also linking up thousands of illegal Israeli settlements in the area.
East Jerusalem carries particular significance to Palestinians as the top choice for the capital of a future Palestinian state.
The group of 21 nations said any plans for a two-state solution will become impossible “by dividing any Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem”.
The group includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
The illegal settlement also “risks undermining security and fuels further violence and instability, taking us further away from peace”, the group said, while bringing “no benefits to the Israeli people”.
The Palestinian Authority, the European Commission and United Nations chief Antonio Guterres have all voiced opposition to plans for the E1 settlement since Israel first announced the news last week.
“Coupled with ongoing settler violence and military operations, these unilateral decisions are fuelling an already tense situation on the ground and further eroding any possibility for peace,” the European Union said in a statement on August 14.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said settlements such as E1 will help erase Palestine from the map, even as Palestinian statehood gains increasing international recognition from UN member states.
“This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise,” Smotrich said last week.