Germany calls on Israel to ‘stop settlement construction' in West Bank
Berlin 'strongly rejects the Israeli government's announcements on thousands of new settlements in the Israeli occupied areas of the West Bank,' the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Israel's finance minister backed plans on Thursday to build 3,400 homes in a particularly contentious area of the occupied West Bank, calling for the territory's annexation in response to several countries' plans to recognize a Palestinian state.
The United Nations chief warned that building Israeli homes in the area would 'put an end to' hopes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel has long had ambitions to build on the sensitive parcel of land east of Jerusalem known as E1, but the plan has been frozen for decades amid international opposition.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law, while critics and the international community have warned construction on the roughly 12 square kilometers would undermine hopes for a contiguous future Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.
The site sits between the ancient city and the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, near routes connecting the north and south of the Palestinian territory. There are also separate, frozen plans to expand Israel's separation barrier to envelop the area.
'Those who want to recognize a Palestinian state today will receive a response from us on the ground...
Through concrete actions: houses, neighborhoods, roads and Jewish families building their lives,' said Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's finance minister, who was speaking at a pro-settlement event on the advancement of plans for the E1 parcel.
'On this important day, I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, to abandon once and for all the idea of partitioning the country, and to ensure that by September, the hypocritical European leaders will have nothing left to recognize,' the far-right figurehead added, using the Biblical term for the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Britain and France are among several countries to announce in recent weeks plans to recognize a Palestinian state later this year, saying they wanted to keep the two-state solution alive.
'Breach of international law'
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said 'If this went ahead -- which we call on the Israeli government not to do... it would sever the northern and southern West banks.'
He added that 'it would put an end to the prospects of a two-state solution.'
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the plans and called for 'genuine international intervention and the imposition of sanctions on the occupation to compel it to halt the implementation.'
'Colonial construction in the E1 area is a continuation of the occupation's plans to destroy the opportunity for the establishment of a Palestinian state,' it added.
The European Union's chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said the plan 'further undermines the two-state solution while being a breach of international law' and called on Israel 'to desist.'
Saudi Arabia also condemned the move 'in the strongest possible terms.'
Israeli NGO Peace Now, which monitors settlement activity in the West Bank, denounced the E1 plan as 'deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution.'
The NGO said the final approval hearing would be held next Wednesday by a technical committee under the defense ministry that has already rejected all objections to the proposals.
After the bureaucratic steps are completed, 'infrastructure work in E1 could begin within a few months, and housing construction within about a year,' Peace Now said.
The West Bank is home to around three million Palestinians, as well as about 500,000 Israeli settlers.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
4 minutes ago
- Arab News
Microsoft launches probe after Israeli mass surveillance claims
LONDON: Microsoft has opened an external investigation into allegations that a top Israeli military intelligence unit used its cloud technology to carry out mass surveillance of Palestinians. The probe follows a joint report by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call. According to the report, Israel's Unit 8200 spy agency, the rough equivalent of the US National Security Agency, used Microsoft's Azure cloud service to store a vast archive of phone calls intercepted and recorded from Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The joint media report also revealed extensive ties between Microsoft's Israel office and the spy unit — a finding that prompted alarm among the tech giant's US executives who feared that Israel-based employees might have concealed information about the nature of their work with Unit 8200. Microsoft's Israel office, as part of its work with the unit, created a custom, segregated suite within the Azure platform in order to store the archive of intercepted phone calls. Unit 8200 chiefs aimed to use the surveillance project to record 'millions of calls per hour' across the Palestinian territories. In a statement, Microsoft said 'using Azure for the storage of data files of phone calls obtained through broad or mass surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank' would be prohibited under its terms of service. The tech giant appointed lawyers from US firm Covington & Burling to oversee the inquiry. It is the second external probe initiated by Microsoft in relation to its ties with the Israeli military. The first, conducted earlier this year, found 'no evidence to date' that the Israel Defense Forces had broken Microsoft's terms of service or used the Azure cloud service 'to target or harm people' in Gaza. However, the latest investigation will expand on the previous one, with Microsoft agreeing 'that The Guardian's recent report raises additional and precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review.' Pressure is also mounting within Microsoft through an employee-led campaign group, No Azure for Apartheid. The group, which is accusing the tech giant of 'complicity in genocide and apartheid,' has called for Microsoft to cut all ties with the Israeli military. Sources within Microsoft told The Guardian that the company's leadership was scrambling to assess Azure data. They are reportedly concerned about information revealed by Unit 8200 sources for the joint media report, which alleged that the data was used to identify targets for strikes in Gaza. Microsoft pledged to 'share with the public the factual findings that result from' the external review, a statement said.
Arab News
33 minutes ago
- Arab News
Israel's chokehold on US is beginning to loosen
Has Israel's government finally gone too far? Ever since it was founded in 1948, Israel has engaged in violence against Palestinians and used its support in America as a shield to prevent it from being punished at the UN. To ensure that America's support never wavers, pro-Israel groups have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into manipulating the American political system, influencing election results and ensuring members of Congress shy away from questioning its misconduct. But ever since Israel's government launched its war of vengeance against the Palestinians in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, its excessive violence, war crimes, genocide and even the murder of a handful of Americans have seemed to tilt the balance of support in the US. Recent polling shows that the American public has started to react to Israel's excesses, with 60 percent now opposing Tel Aviv's military action in Gaza. Israel's violence, pushed by the influence of far-right religious extremists who control the government of right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has pushed open a door of judgment that it might not be able to close. Even worse for Israel is that its excessive military response has sparked a seismic political tremor that has started to reverberate among some Republican conservatives and mainstream Democrats, who for generations could be counted on to close their eyes to Israel's extrajudicial killings, collective punishment and contempt for the international rule of law. We are starting to see the powerful chokehold that Israel has long had over American politics start to loosen. We have always seen the Democratic Party mildly slap Israel on the wrist for its violent excesses, but mainstream Democrats like Rep. Mike Quigley are now questioning Israel's military actions and even calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Israel's excessive violence, war crimes and genocide have seemed to tilt the balance of support in the US Ray Hanania We have long heard those on the far left in the Democratic Party scream and stamp their feet with no impact on American society. They have excoriated Israel's government for its hypocritical discriminatory policies against Christians and Muslims. Meanwhile, the Republicans and evangelical Christian movements have always stood by Israel, giving it a shield against any form of criminal prosecution, even when its victims have been Americans. Conservatives may have winced at Israel's abuses, but they never crossed the line to demand accountability or judgment. Until now. The tipping point came because Americans have begun to experience a weakening economy. Not only has inflation pushed the price of commodities like groceries, cars and clothing to new heights, but the costs of essentials like insurance, healthcare and property taxes have also risen dramatically. Many Americans are now struggling financially. The US also has a record national debt of more than $37 trillion, which is driving inflation and pushing the cost of products to unaffordable new heights. That economic reality is trumping America's love affair with Israel, causing many Americans to ask: 'Why?' One of the strongest voices leading the backlash is a core member of President Donald Trump's 'Make America Great Again' movement: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Republican from Georgia has started to question why America sacrifices so much for Israel. Greene, a staunch, unapologetic champion of Trump, is the face of the new movement that is challenging Israel's dominion over America and directly challenging Israel's political powerbase in the US, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. This group has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on donations to the campaign coffers of hundreds of US politicians in order to ensure their subordination and subservience to Israel's needs and demands. Today's economic reality is trumping America's love affair with Israel, causing many Americans to ask: 'Why?' Ray Hanania Greene is demanding that America stop giving Israel foreign aid. The US sends $4 billion in aid to Israel every year and it has also provided $18 billion in military assistance for Tel Aviv's war on Gaza. She has the audacity to ask why. Why is America giving Israel so much money, which could instead be given to Americans who are suffering financially? She posted on X this week: 'AIPAC is trying to paint my America First message as 'antisemitic' because I don't want to keep sending billions to the secular government of nuclear-armed Israel.' Greene has expanded her call to end all foreign aid — a call to arms that is being embraced by other mainstream MAGA Republicans like Rep. Thomas Massie. What is happening is a political revolution being driven by a worsening economy and by Israeli arrogance. In her post this week, Green concluded: 'With $37 TRILLION in debt, I'm unapologetically America ONLY at this point. My loyalty is to the American people and my children's generation. The people I was elected to represent. NOT ANY FOREIGN COUNTRY.' The growing criticism of Israel's policies, combined with the financial pain many Americans are experiencing and the arrogance of foreign lobbyists who believe they can politically suffocate mainstream congressional antagonists, is undermining Israel's grip over the American people. The changes may look small, but with the criticisms gaining momentum, at some point they will become unstoppable. There is an American idiom often used in politics that says, 'give someone enough rope and they will hang themselves.' Israel is today tightening the noose around its own moral profligacy. • Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter and columnist. He can be reached on his personal website at X: @RayHanania
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
German govt sued over Afghan refugees deported from Pakistan
BERLIN: German rights groups took to the courts Friday on behalf of Afghans who were offered refuge by Berlin but are now caught between Chancellor Friedrich Merz's immigration crackdown and a wave of deportations from Pakistan. Refugee support groups filed cases against Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, accusing them of "abandonment and failure to render assistance" to Afghans who were previously promised asylum in Germany. The group Pro Asyl said Pakistan had detained hundreds of Afghans this week in an escalating series of arrests and deported 34, placing them at risk of "arbitrary imprisonment, mistreatment or even execution" in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. "We came to Pakistan one year ago because of the promise of the German government," a 27-year-old Afghan women's rights activist told AFP, asking not to be named for security reasons. "In the last few days that the police have been searching for us, my children and I have become sick," said the mother-of-two, who added that she was "terrified and anxious" after several friends were arrested. She and her family are among thousands of Afghans whom Germany offered to take in under a scheme set up under former chancellor Olaf Scholz in the wake of the Taliban's 2021 takeover. It offered asylum to Afghans who had worked with German institutions or who were particularly threatened by the Taliban, including journalists and human rights activists, as well as their families. However, the program has been put on hold as part of a stricter immigration policy brought in under conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who took office in May. This has left around 2,000 Afghans stranded in Pakistan waiting for visas to travel to Germany. "I am worried that if the police arrest us, they will hand us over straight away to the Taliban, and then my identity will be revealed to them and I couldn't imagine what they will do to me and my family," said the Afghan activist. "I am devastated." The Kabul Airbridge initiative, which aims to help those stuck in Pakistan, said that another 270 Afghans who had been accepted under the German scheme faced being deported on Friday and that at least four more guesthouses had been raided. The group said that while there had been previous cases of Afghans in the scheme being deported, the raids over the past few days were of a "different order of magnitude." According to Kabul Airbridge, the German government and the GIZ development agency have previously managed to stop deportations but it was far from certain they could do so now given the numbers involved. Pakistan first launched a deportation drive in 2023 and renewed it in April when it rescinded hundreds of thousands of residence permits for Afghans, threatening to arrest those who did not leave. Many Afghans have braved the heat and monsoon rains in parks, terrified of being swept up in the arrests. Wadephul, in a statement marking the fourth anniversary of the Taliban's return to power, voiced "deep concern" over the fate of those at risk of deportation and said Germany was making representations for them with Pakistani authorities "at the highest level." However, Berlin has continued to keep the admissions program on ice, despite a court ruling last month which found that it had a "legally binding commitment" to give visas to those who had been accepted under the program. Immigration has been a hot-button topic in Europe's biggest economy, pushed strongly by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. A string of violent attacks committed by foreign nationals, including Afghans, before February's election led Merz to tighten borders, promise to end the admissions scheme and to increase deportations of convicted criminals to Afghanistan and elsewhere. Those in limbo in Pakistan do not understand why they have to pay the price, among them a 33-year-old man who worked with the Germans in Afghanistan for three years on humanitarian projects. "We did not expect to be rewarded with this after working for Germany's goals," he told AFP, saying that he, his wife and their three children, after waiting in Pakistan for over a year, had been left in "panic and anxiety" by the police raids. "We fled from darkness, violence, injustice and oppression, now we are treated this way."
