14 countries condemn Israeli approval of new West Bank settlements

France, Britain, Germany and others say authorization of 19 sites is illegal under international law, warn unilateral actions in West Bank could derail fragile Gaza ceasefire

Fourteen countries, including France, Britain and Germany, condemned on Wednesday Israel’s recent approval of new Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

“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,” said a joint statement released by the French foreign ministry.

“We recall our clear opposition to any form of annexation and to the expansion of settlement policies,” it added.

On Sunday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that authorities had legalized eight existing outposts and would establish 11 new settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

About half of the outposts are located deep inside the West Bank, while the others are dispersed more or less evenly along the Green Line that separates the territory from Israel.

In Wednesday’s statement, the countries stressed such unilateral actions “violate international law” and risk undermining a fragile ceasefire in Gaza as mediators push for the implementation of the second phase of the truce.

The countries urged Israel “to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements.”

They also reaffirmed their “unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution… where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side-by-side in peace and security.”

Israel has controlled the West Bank since capturing the territory from Jordan during the 1967 Six Day War, a conflict that also saw Israel take the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. Israel annexed East Jerusalem — a move not recognized by most of the international community — while the West Bank has remained under varying forms of Israeli military and civil control ever since.

Excluding East Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, along with about three million Palestinian residents.

Earlier this month, the United Nations said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank — all of which are illegal under international law — had reached its highest level since tracking began in 2017, with the number of settlements rising by nearly 50 percent, from 141 in 2022 to 210 following the latest round of authorizations, according to the Israeli watchdog Peace Now.