Washington, Berlin, Paris, Rome and London said they were “strongly” opposed on Tuesday to Israel’s decision to legalize nine settlements in the occupied West Bank and to plan new housing in existing settlements.
“We strongly oppose these unilateral actions which only increase tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and which undermine efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution,” the heads of diplomacy from the five countries write in a statement. joint statement.
The measures announced by the Israeli security cabinet on Sunday were presented as a response to a series of Palestinian attacks in East Jerusalem, including one that killed three people on Friday.
The nine settlements in question were previously illegal under Israeli law, because established without the approval of the government, while for the UN any Jewish settlement enterprise in the West Bank is illegal under international law.
“Deeply concerned” by Israel’s announcement, the United States and the four European countries recall in their press release that “a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East must be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties”. .
“We continue to closely monitor developments on the ground that undermine the viability of the two-state solution and the stability of the region as a whole,” they wrote.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967. More than 475,000 Israelis reside in settlements in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem), where 2.8 million Palestinians live.
To see in video