Foreign ministers from countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K., along with European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas, expressed disapproval.
This followed Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy calling in Israel’s ambassador to the U.K. at the Foreign Office.
“The Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom was summoned to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office,” stated a Foreign Office spokesperson in a separate announcement on Thursday.
“Her Excellency Tzipi Hotovely was called in due to the Israeli Higher Planning Committee’s decision to endorse settlement construction plans in the E1 area, East of Jerusalem,” they continued.
Israel granted final approval to the settlement project this week, which includes 3,400 homes in the West Bank. Construction there had been paused for two decades due to international opposition.
The Palestinian Authority has denounced the move, stating it would “destroy” the possibility of a two-state solution.
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