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LeMonde
2 minutes ago
- LeMonde
Israel's plan to expand settlements in the West Bank is 'unacceptable,' say 21 countries
Britain and France were among 21 countries to sign a joint statement on Thursday, August 21, calling Israel's approval of a major settlement project in the West Bank "unacceptable and a violation of international law". Israel approved the plans for the roughly 12-square-kilometer (five-square-mile) parcel of land known as E1 just east of Jerusalem on Wednesday. "We condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms," said the statement of foreign ministers, whose signatories also included Australia, Canada and Italy. Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden also signed the statement, as did the European Commission's foreign affairs chief. "This brings no benefits to the Israeli people," the foreign ministers said. "Instead, it risks undermining security and fuels further violence and instability, taking us further away from peace. The government of Israel still has an opportunity to stop the E1 plan going any further. We encourage them to urgently retract this plan," they added. The statement noted that Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the plan "will make a two-state solution impossible by dividing any Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem". The plan seeks to build around 3,400 homes on the ultra-sensitive tract of land, which lies between Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim. All of Israel's settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have Israeli planning permission. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) has slammed the latest move, which has also been criticized by UN chief Antonio Guterres and the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini. The project would "completely cut off the northern and central West Bank from the southern West Bank – meaning that there would no longer be any territorial contiguity", said Lazzarini. He said Israel was taking decisions that would make the creation of two states "increasingly impossible". Britain on Thursday summoned Israeli ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely to the foreign ministry to protest the decision. "If implemented, these settlement plans would be a flagrant breach of international law and would divide a future Palestinian state in two, critically undermining a two-state solution," the foreign office said in a statement.
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Palestinian camps in Lebanon to start disarming: committee
The announcement comes after the Lebanese government also tasked the army with formulating a plan to disarm the militant group Hezbollah by the end of the year. "Today marks the beginning of the first phase of the process of handing over weapons from inside the Palestinian camps," Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee chairman Ramez Dimashkieh said in a statement. The process would begin with the Burj al-Barajneh camp in Beirut, where an initial batch of weapons would be placed in the custody of the Lebanese army, Dimashkieh added. An AFP photojournalist saw dozens of fighters in military fatigues holding Kalashnikov rifles as crowds gathered in front of the Beirut headquarters of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement. A Palestinian security official told AFP on condition of anonymity that "Fatah will begin handing over its weapons in Burj al-Barajneh camp within the framework of the coordination with the Lebanese army". Abbas visited Beirut in May and reached an agreement with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that all arms in Palestinian camps would be surrendered to the state. A Palestinian security source at Burj al-Barajneh camp said "Fatah's initiative in beginning to hand over weapons is symbolic, and came as a result of an agreement between Aoun and the Palestinian president's son, Yasser Abbas, who is currently visiting Beirut". It aims to "encourage the remaining (Palestinian armed) factions to take the same step", the source said, noting that the other influential factions in the camp "have not yet decided to hand over their weapons". The Palestinian Authority does not exercise power over the remaining factions in the camps, most notably Hamas. 'Illegitimate weapons' Lebanon has come under heavy US pressure to disarm Hamas's ally Hezbollah after the Iran-backed Lebanese movement was dealt a massive blow during its war with Israel last year. That conflict was the culmination of a year of hostilities launched by Hezbollah in support of Hamas after the Palestinian group's October 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war. Lebanon hosts about 222,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations agency UNRWA, with many living in overcrowded camps outside of the state's control. The Ain al-Hilweh camp near the southern city of Sidon, for instance, is the largest in the country and houses individuals wanted by the Lebanese authorities. The handover of weapons was expected to begin in mid-June, but in an interview with Saudi-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya last week, Aoun attributed the delay to the Iran-Israel war that broke out that month, as well as to "internal considerations within the Palestinian Authority". Badie al-Habet, a member of the Fatah leadership in Beirut, told AFP that Thursday would see the "turning over of illegitimate weapons in the hands of illegitimate individuals". The weapons held by Palestinian security personnel in the refugee camps, however, were not included in the handover, he added. Palestinian armed factions, including Hamas, have repeatedly fired at Israel from Lebanon since the start of the Gaza war and the ensuing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which a November ceasefire sought to end. The ceasefire stipulated that only the Lebanese military would bear arms and that all forces would withdraw from the country's south, with the exception of the army and UN peacekeepers. Israel has nonetheless continued to strike Lebanon regularly, and its troops still hold five positions in the south that it deems strategic. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has said it will resist efforts to disarm it.
Euronews
7 hours ago
- Euronews
Von der Leyen 'extremely saddened' by situation of Gaza children
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is "extremely saddened by the situation of the children in Gaza", Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta told reporters on Thursday. "She is extremely saddened by the situation children are facing in Gaza. The president has said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is appalling," the spokesperson said in response to a question on the situation in Gaza. Podesta said that Von der Leyen stood for the protection of children everywhere in the world, noting that she had spearheaded a call for the release of abducted Ukrainian children from Russian custody alongside US first lady Melania Trump. "She has indeed raised the topic of the Ukrainian children abducted by Russia with President Trump the other day in the presence of the European leaders and President Zelenskyy. This is, of course, a very important cause dear to her heart," Podesta said. According to the Commission, Von der Leyen called relentlessly for a ceasefire in Gaza to protect the civilian population and to safeguard the right to the protection of children. The European Commission also commented on the start of the operation of the Israeli Defence Forces to gain control over Gaza City and to expel its population in order to fight the remaining strongholds of Hamas, which has prompted international criticism. The spokesperson said that von der Leyen denounced the operation at the beginning of August, calling on the Israeli government to reconsider its decision to occupy Gaza, whilst at the same time calling for all hostages to be released by Hamas. The United Nations' UNICEF agency has said more than 50,000 children in Gaza have reportedly been killed or injured, and many of these through malnutrition. Another UN agency, UNRWA, has claimed that 20% of children in Gaza City were malnourished ahead of the military operation.
