Israel has rejected international criticism of the approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. The decision in favor of the construction plans serves to ward off security threats, wrote Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Wednesday on the Platform Such a call is morally wrong and discriminatory against the Jewish population, wrote Saar.
The Israeli cabinet decided at the weekend to establish eleven new settlements and to formalize eight additional settlements. This will, among other things, help address threats facing Israel, Saar wrote. All settlements are on state land and therefore Israel acts in accordance with international law. Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had previously expressed his delight at the settlement plans he and Defense Minister Israel Katz had proposed to the Cabinet. On the online platform X wrote of a “record” and announced that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was doing so A total of 69 new settlements were approved within three years have.
Europeans and Canada criticized settlement plans
A group of states including Germany, Great Britain and Canadayesterday condemned the approval of a total of 19 Israeli settlements. In a joint statement They called on Israel to reverse the decision. This violates international law and risks fueling instability. Israeli settlement activities could also prevent the Gaza plan from entering the second phase, the statement added. The signatory states also include Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.
Israel had, among other things, this in 1967 West Bank and conquered East Jerusalem, where more than 700,000 settlers now live among around three million Palestinians. The United Nations sees the Israeli settlements as an obstacle to a peace settlement because they would hardly allow any contiguous territory for the Palestinians in a possible two-state solution.
German participation in the declaration contrasts with statements made by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) during his Inaugural visit to Israel earlier this month. There he initially said that the path to Palestinian statehood must remain open. After Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu However, when he rejected a two-state solution, Merz backtracked on this demand. Regarding a Palestinian state, he said this was a hope that might come true, but might not.
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