Britain on Wednesday denounced Israel’s decision to advance construction of more than 1000 housing units for Jewish settlers in an area of the occupied West Bank.
“Israel’s decision to advance the construction of 1257 settlement buildings in the Givat Hamatos area of the occupied West Bank would violate international law and risks causing serious damage to the prospects for a viable Palestinian State” James Cleverly Britain’s minister for the Middle East and North Africa said in a press release.
“We condemn this decision which is incompatible with Israel’s declared goal of peace and call for both the tender process and the advancement of other settlements in east Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank to be suspended immediately” he added.
Last weekend the Israel land authority announced it had opened up tenders for more than 1200 new structures in the settlement of Givat Hamatos according to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now.
The UN and EU both already voiced deep concerns over the move.
The West Bank including east Jerusalem is regarded as an “occupied territory” under international law making all Jewish settlements there illegal.
