 "France, UK, Canada among 14 nations condemn Israel’s approval of new West Bank settlements")
Fourteen countries, including France, Britain, Canada and Japan, condemned on Wednesday Israel’s recent approval of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In joint statement released by the French foreign ministry, it said “We, States of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom condemn the approval by the Israeli security cabinet of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank,”
“We recall our clear opposition to any form of annexation and to the expansion of settlement policies,” the statement said.
The Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal for 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank this week.
The approval comes as the US is pushing Israel and Hamas to move ahead with the new phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which took effect Oct. 10. The US-proposed peace plan calls for a possible “pathway” to a Palestinian state — something the settlements are aimed at preventing.
The approval increases the number of settlements in the West Bank by nearly 50 per cent during the current government’s tenure, from 141 in 2022 to 210, after the current approval, according to Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group. Settlements are widely considered illegal under international law.
The Cabinet decision included a retroactive legalization of some previously established settlement outposts and the creation of settlements on land where Palestinians were evacuated, Peace Now said.
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View AllMeanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel would retaliate after a military officer was wounded by a blast in Gaza, while Hamas denied responsibility, suggesting the explosive device had been left over from the conflict.
In a speech at a graduation ceremony for Air Force pilots, Netanyahu mentioned the incident in Rafah, part of Gaza where Israeli forces still operate, and said Hamas had made clear it had no plan to disarm as foreseen under the October truce deal.
“Israel will respond accordingly,” he said.
The Israeli military earlier said that an explosive device had detonated against a military vehicle in the Rafah area and that one officer had been lightly injured.
Hamas said the incident had taken place in an area where the Israeli military was in full control and that it had warned that explosives remained in the area and elsewhere since the war, reiterating its commitment to the October 10 ceasefire.
Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi said in an earlier post on X that mediators had been informed about the issue.
With inputs from agencies
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