Earlier this month, 13 European countries and Japan condemned Israel’s decision to recognize 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying the move undermines prospects for long-term peace and security in the region.
“Such unilateral actions, as part of a broader consolidation of settlement policy in the West Bank, not only violate international law, but also risk fostering instability,” the two leaders said in a joint statement.
On December 11, Israel’s Cabinet approved the legalization and establishment of 19 settler outposts, according to an Israeli official with knowledge of the matter. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, himself a settler, announced the move in a social media post on Sunday.
The decision authorizes 19 outposts across the West Bank, including two that were evacuated in the 2005 withdrawal plan, and comes amid a surge in violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the region.
Wednesday’s joint statement was issued by the following countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom.
“We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on a two-state solution in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, in which the two democratic states of Israel and Palestine coexist in peace and security within secure and recognized borders,” the statement added.
Israel’s foreign minister rejected this statement, insisting that Jews have the right to establish a homeland that spans the entire territory of Mandate Palestine.
“No foreign government will restrict the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel,” he said in a post to X.
The West Bank lies between Israel and Jordan, has been occupied by Israeli forces since 1967, and is home to more than 3.3 million Palestinians.
Despite calls by the international community for a negotiated solution to the decades-long occupation, in the lead-up to and since the October 7 Hamas attack, Israeli leaders have made their rejection of a future Palestinian state clearer than ever.
“We are preventing the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state on the ground,” Smotrich said in a statement announcing the expansion. “We will continue to develop, build and settle the lands that have been our ancestral heritage, believing that our path is just.”
The entire Israeli settlement is considered illegal under international law. The outposts are not only illegal under international law, but also illegal under Israeli law.
Settlers establish outposts with the aim of receiving illegal building permits in the future. Many of the newly approved settlements are located deep in the West Bank.
In May, Israel announced it would establish 22 new settlements, the largest settlement expansion in more than 30 years, according to Israeli settlement monitoring group Peace Now.
Israel’s current right-wing government has established dozens of governments since the start of its term in 2023, marking a dramatic acceleration and expansion of settlement activity.
At the same time, Israel has also carried out military operations and destroyed Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, a move that the United Nations and Palestinian officials have warned is tantamount to forced displacement, sparking widespread chaos.
Meanwhile, attacks by Jewish settlers against Palestinians and their property have spiked this year, especially during the olive harvest season from October to November.
Dozens of videos shot by Palestinian farmers and activists show masked Israeli settlers carrying clubs and clubs, and sometimes brandishing rifles, attacking Palestinians and Israeli Jewish activists in solidarity with them.
Other videos showed settlers interacting with nearby soldiers, often supporting them.
A United Nations report released last month found that Israeli settlers carried out at least 264 attacks in October, the most since the United Nations began tracking incidents in 2006. Repeated attacks have damaged this year’s olive harvest.
The United Nations has called on occupying power Israel to prevent further attacks in the West Bank.
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian relief chief, warned that “failure to prevent or punish such attacks is a violation of international law.” “Palestinians must be protected. There can be no impunity. Perpetrators must be held accountable.”
