Britain: Settlements are "Illegal" and undermine the two-state solution, and must be stopped "immediately"

January 18, 2021

(See translation in Arabic section)

Shtayyeh: A meeting of Palestinian factions in Cairo in early February.

(Agencies): Britain said it was "extremely concerned" about Israel's approval to build new homes for settlers in the occupied West Bank, and warned that the move might threaten future peace negotiations and called for a halt to construction.

"The settlements are illegal under international law and risk undermining the possibility of implementing the two-state solution," a British Foreign Office spokesman said in a statement. We call for an immediate halt to construction in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank. For his part, Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh expressed his hope, on Monday, that US President-elect Joe Biden and his administration, as well as the international community, would intervene to curb Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and protect the "two-state solution."

This came in a speech by Lashtayeh at the start of the weekly cabinet session, on Monday, in Ramallah.

Commenting on Israel's decision, on Sunday, to build 780 settlement units, he added, "We hope that the next administration and the elected US president will make every effort to curb this settlement attack."

 On Sunday, Israel approved the construction of 780 new settlement units in the West Bank, according to the Israeli rights movement Peace Now.

Shtayyeh said that Israel "is not only racing against time with the US administration, but also receiving the new American president with this package of settlement projects."

Shtayyeh also called for "an end to settler terror and a halt to the colonial settlement attack carried out by Israel in order to undermine the two-state solution."

The Palestinian Prime Minister called on the world "to stand seriously in front of its responsibilities and protect the (two-state solution) project."