Earthmovers in the settlement of Sa-Nur, south of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, on Wednesday.ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images
Countries including Canada, Britain, Germany and others on Wednesday condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying they violated international law and risked fuelling instability.
“We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements,” said a joint statement released by Britain, which also included Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.
“We recall that such unilateral actions, as part of a wider intensification of the settlement policies in the West Bank, not only violate international law but also risk fuelling instability,” the statement added.