UK vows 'comprehensive' action to prevent Israel's illegal E1 West Bank settlement

THE UK will set out “comprehensive” measures to protect the viability of the Palestinian state amid an escalating threat from Israel, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said. In a statement in response to Israel’s E1 settlement plan – which is illegal under international law – Miliband said the UK would “not stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution”. The E1 project would see around 3400 homes built on strategic Palestinian land, effectively dividing the West Bank in two. It is explicitly aimed at making a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict impossible. READ MORE: David Pratt: This is why the Gulf states are pivoting away from Washington Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has opened contract tenders for the first 1200 homes, with a deadline for bids set eight days before the Israeli general election on October 27. The reported aim is to prevent any future government from overturning any contract. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the UN’s highest legal body – ruled that Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian territories like the West Bank was “illegal”, and that other UN states such as the UK were therefore obliged to “ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law” and to refrain from any dealings with Israel relating to occupied Palestinian land. However, the UK Government has failed to respond to the ICJ ruling for more than two years, and has not banned trade with illegal Israeli settlements. Late on Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Miliband said the UK Government would be taking "comprehensive" action to ensure the E1 West Bank development does not go ahead. “This Israeli Government’s publication of a tender for the E1 settlement project is an unacceptable and destructive act,” Miliband said. “E1 would cut across the heart of Palestine and risks separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem, which would endanger the viability of a two-state solution. “The UK has been clear privately and publicly in our opposition to E1 and our support for a two-state solution as the only way to ensure long-term security and peace for both Palestinians and Israelis. All settlements damage that prospect and are a flagrant breach of international law. “Today, I made clear to the Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that the Israeli Government must halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion. “In addition, the Israeli Chargé d’Affaires has been summoned to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, where we set out the UK’s profound objection to this move by the Netanyahu government and demanded an immediate reversal. READ MORE: UK Government urged to hold Israel to account after deadliest strikes in weeks “The impact of settler violence and terrorism has been catastrophic for Palestinian communities. Settlement expansion and attempts to create irreversible divisions on the ground threaten peace, security and the prospects for a viable Palestinian state. “Britain will not stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution. “In the coming weeks we will set out a comprehensive set of measures to respond to Israeli government policies, protect the viability of the Palestinian state, target sanctions at those who participate in illegal settlement expansion, and support a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians.” The UK statement comes amid mounting tensions around Israel’s actions against its neighbours. Israeli strikes hit the Abu Duhur base in Syria early on Tuesday, hours after a Turkish delegation had left. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Israel had attacked the base because Syria was “on the verge of breaching” an agreed-upon “status quo in security matters” by allowing Turkish troops to deploy there. However, Turkey’s communications directorate accused Netanyahu of making “untenable allegations… intended to legitimise Israel’s unlawful air strikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. It alleged that Israel aimed “to pursue expansionist and destabilising policies in the region ahead of the elections in Israel”. Turkey “will resolutely continue to co-operate with the Syrian government on a legitimate basis for the establishment of peace, stability, and prosperity in Syria, and will never allow the destabilisation of Syria”, it said. Share