The United Kingdom, Australia and Japan are among the 21 countries which have condemned Israel’s plans to build a controversial illegal regulation in occupied West Bank, which, according to them, makes a future solution to two states for the Palestinians.
“We condemn this decision and call on his immediate reversal in the strongest terms,” the 21 countries said on Thursday in a joint statement, describing Israel’s construction plans as a “violation of international law”.
The declaration follows the news this week that Israel will officially advance with a colony on a plot of 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles) in the east of Jerusalem known as “East 1” or “E1”.
Development, which will include 3,400 new houses for Israeli settlers, will cut a large part of the occupied Cisjordan of occupying Jerusalem while linking thousands of illegal Israeli colonies in the region.
East Jerusalem is of particular importance for the Palestinians as the first choice for the capital of a future Palestinian state.
The group of 21 nations said that all plans for a two -state solution will become impossible “by dividing any Palestinian state and by restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem”.
The group includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
Tánaist @Simonharristd joined 21 counterparts in Europe and worldwide to condemn the construction plans in the E1 area of the West Bank. These plans constitute a violation of international law and a fundamental threat to the two -state solution – they must be reversed. pic.twitter.com/ftMibdzbev
– Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@DFatirr) August 21, 2025
The illegal regulation “also risks undermining security and fueling violence and instability, moving us away from peace,” said the group, while bringing “no advantage to the Israeli people”.
The Palestinian Authority, the European Commission and the United Nations Antonio Guterres have all expressed their opposition to the E1 colony since Israel announced last week last week.
“Coupled with the violence of the colonists and the ongoing military operations, these unilateral decisions fuel an already tense situation on the ground and further eroding any possibility of peace,” the European Union said in a statement on August 14.
The Minister of Finance of Israel, Bezalel Smotrich, said that colonies such as E1 will help erase Palestine from the map, even if the Palestinian State has increasing international recognition of the UN member states.
“This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize,” said Smotrich last week.
