situation would be further aggravated
Western foreign ministers condemn Israel’s settlement plan
2/14/2023, 4:41 p.m
The situation in the Middle East has been more than tense for some time anyway, and Israel’s current settlement plans can act as a fire accelerator. The criticism from some European countries and the USA is therefore correspondingly harsh. This would undermine a two-state solution, they say.
Several Western foreign ministers, including Germany, have condemned Israel’s recent plans to legalize nine unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank. “We firmly reject these unilateral measures, which are only suitable to increase tensions between Israelis and Palestinians,” it said in one joint statement France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. Israel’s security cabinet decided on Sunday to legalize Israel after two deadly attacks by Palestinians within two weeks.
The countries are “deeply concerned by the Israeli government’s announcement that it will approve nearly 10,000 settlement units,” it said. The measures served to undermine efforts towards a two-state solution. By this is meant the creation of an independent Palestinian state to exist peacefully alongside Israel. The foreign ministers announced that they would “closely monitor” developments on the ground.
Israel’s settlement policy is very controversial. Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. In total, more than 600,000 Israeli settlers live there today. The Palestinians claim the territories for an independent state of Palestine with the Arab-influenced eastern part of Jerusalem as the capital. Israel distinguishes between settlements created with government approval and “wild settlements,” which are intended to be retrospectively legalized by law. From an international perspective, however, all settlements are illegal.
At the end of 2016, the UN Security Council called on Israel to completely stop settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the annexed East Jerusalem. The security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories is currently extremely tense.