The Israeli government’s decision to legalise five settlements in and to annex areas of the West Bank as “state lands” was attacked by international leaders, including the UK.
A statement issued yesterday by foreign ministers of the G7 (the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan), condemned “the announcement by Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich that 5 outposts are to be legalised in the West Bank.”
It continued, “We also reject the decision by the Government of Israel to declare over 1,270 hectares of land in the West Bank as ‘state lands’ – the largest such declaration of state land since the Oslo Accords – and the decision to expand existing settlements in the occupied West Bank by 5,295 new housing units and to establish 3 new settlements.”
The foreign ministers added that, “The Government of Israel’s settlement program is inconsistent with international law, and counterproductive to the cause of peace” and urged the Israeli government to reverse the decision.
