Europe, Canada condemn Israeli plans for new West Bank settlement

The ‘unacceptable’ E1 plan carries ‘legal and reputational consequences’ for those participating, European nations warn.Israeli plans to build a major new illegal settlement that would cleave the occupied West Bank in two have provoked widespread condemnation from around the world.In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Norway called Israel’s opening of construction tenders for more than 1,200 housing units under the E1 settlement project “unacceptable” and in violation of “the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian Territories”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Palestinians, UK condemn Israel’s ‘destructive’ E1 settlement planlist 2 of 4Analysis: Israel’s government can’t disown West Bank settler violencelist 3 of 4Israel election pressure fuels settlement push as West Bank violence surgeslist 4 of 4‘Badge of honour’: Israeli settlers shrug off global condemnationend of listThe group warned of “legal and reputational consequences” for participants and urged Israel “to retract these plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank”.“Not only will they take us further from peace, but they further undermine Israel’s international standing,” the statement added.The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also expressed its “complete rejection of attempts to entrench the status quo through illegal settlement expansion” and called on the international community to “take serious steps to stop these violations”.Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim wrote on social media that the plans “gravely undermine the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian homeland”.Israel has abandoned “even the pretence of seeking peace or respecting the will of the international community”, he added.The United Nations has also condemned the plan. The UN’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general was “deeply alarmed by the reports of new illegal Israeli settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank”, including the new tenders.