UK says Israel’s new E1 settlement plan is flagrantly illegal and ‘must be stopped now’

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy says Israeli plans to develop a settlement project that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from east Jerusalem mark a breach of international law and must be stopped immediately.

“The UK strongly opposes the Israeli government’s E1 settlement plans, which would divide a future Palestinian state in two and mark a flagrant breach of international law. The plans must be stopped now,” Lammy says in an emailed statement.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Wednesday that he plans to approve tenders to build more than 3,000 housing units in the highly controversial E1 settlement project between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim in the West Bank, saying the move “buries the idea of a Palestinian state.” He said Thursday that the plan is backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.