Eduardo González
The governments of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom have condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“We reiterate that these unilateral actions, as part of a broader intensification of settlement policies in the West Bank, not only violate international law but also risk exacerbating instability,” they declared in a joint statement on Wednesday, December 24. “They could undermine the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan for Gaza amid efforts to advance to phase 2 and harm the long-term prospects for peace and security throughout the region,” they added.
“We reiterate our clear opposition to any form of annexation and to the expansion of settlement policies, including the approval of the E1 settlement and thousands of new homes,” the text continues.
“We urge Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2334,” the signatory countries warn.
“We firmly support the Palestinians’ right to self-determination. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace based on the two-state solution, in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, coexist in peace and security within secure and recognized borders. We reaffirm that there is no alternative to a negotiated two-state solution,” the joint statement concludes.
Last Monday, December 22, the Spanish government condemned Israel’s decision to approve 19 new settlements in the West Bank and expressed its “deep concern” about the escalating violence by settlers against the Palestinian population in this territory.
“Spain condemns the Israeli government’s decision to approve 19 new settlements in the West Bank,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release. This decision, it continued, “violates international law,” and the government “demands its revocation in the strongest possible terms.”
“The Spanish government reiterates its condemnation of the expansion of settlements, which are illegal under international law, and of any initiative to impede the implementation of the two-state solution, the only path to lasting peace in the region,” the government of Pedro Sánchez insisted.
“Spain expresses its deep concern about the extremely serious situation in the West Bank,” it declared. “The escalating settler violence against the Palestinian population and their livelihoods, facilitated by impunity, military operations, and the expansionist policies of the Israeli government, are clear obstacles to peace, security, and prosperity,” he concluded.
The Israeli Cabinet approved the construction of 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank last Sunday, following a proposal by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz. This decision brings the total number of settlements created in the last three years by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to 69 (from 141 in 2022 to 210 currently). Aside from East Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis currently live in settlements in the West Bank, alongside three million Palestinians.
The aim of this proposal, according to the office of Smotrich, a settler and representative of the far-right religious nationalist movement, is “to block the creation of a terrorist Palestinian state (…), by developing, building, and populating the land of our ancestral heritage.”
These 19 settlements, according to Smotrich’s office, are located in areas of “high strategic value.” Among them are Ganim and Kadim, which were dismantled in 2005 as part of Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and will be reestablished in the northern West Bank.
