Germany calls on the Israeli government to stop settlement construction in the West Bank after far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said work would start on a plan for thousands of homes in a contentious area of the West Bank.
Germany “firmly rejects the Israeli government’s announcements regarding the approval of thousands of new housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank,” says a foreign ministry spokesperson in a statement.
Plans for the E1 settlement project and the expansion of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement would further restrict the mobility of the Palestinian population in the West Bank by splitting it in half and cutting the area off from East Jerusalem, says the spokesperson.
Smotrich announced on Thursday that work would start on the long-delayed settlement, a move that he said “buries the idea of a Palestinian state.”
Germany has repeatedly warned the Israeli government to stop settlement construction in the West Bank, which violates international law and UN Security Council resolutions.
Such moves complicate steps towards a negotiated two-state solution, says the spokesperson.
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