The UK, Australia and Japan are among the 21 countries that have denounced Israel’s plans to build a controversial illegal settlement on the occupied West Bank, saying it has made the two future state solutions impossible for Palestinians.
In a joint statement on Thursday, 21 countries said they described Israel’s construction plans as “a violation of international law.”
The statement follows news this week that Israel will formally proceed with a settlement in the 12-square-kilometer (4.6 square miles) area of land east of Jerusalem (AL-QUDS), known as “East 1” or “E1.”
The development, which includes 3,400 new homes for Israeli settlers, will cut off most of the occupied West Bank from occupied East Jerusalem, linking thousands of illegal Israeli settlements in the area.
East Jerusalem is of particular importance to the Palestinians as the biggest option for the future capital of the Palestinian state.
A group of 21 countries said plans for a solution for the two states would be impossible “by splitting the Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem.”
The group includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
The illegal settlement also “takes the risk of undermining security, promotes further violence and instability, and distracts us from peace,” the group said, but “does not benefit the people of Israel.”
Palestinian authorities, the European Commission and UN chief Antonio Guterres have all expressed opposition to plans for an E1 settlement since Israel first released the news last week.
“Coupled with ongoing settler violence and military operations, these unilateral decisions promote an already tense situation on the ground and further erode the potential 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 would help Palestinian states erase Palestine from the map despite raising international awareness from UN member states.
“This reality finally fills the idea of a Palestinian state because there is nothing to recognize and no one will recognize,” Smotrich said last week.