The United States To Britain Against Ratification Of Jewish Settlements In The West Bank: Breaking Efforts To Achieve Two Countries Solutions

JAKARTA - Foreign ministers from four European and Canadian countries joined the United States on Tuesday, opposing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to allow nine Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Britain's foreign ministers, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States issued a joint statement calling for concern over the plan Israel announced on Sunday.

"We strongly oppose unilateral action that would only exacerbate tensions between Israel and Palestine and undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution," they said.

Later, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Ottawa was also strongly against the expansion of settlements and added, "such unilateral actions jeopardize efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace."

The Israeli government on Sunday granted retroactive authorization to nine outposts of settlers in the West Bank, announcing the mass construction of new homes in established settlements, prompting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to say he is "deeply disturbed."

Meanwhile, Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official, welcomed the joint statement, but was looking forward to concrete action.

"We demand that words be changed into actions," he said.

Israel's Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on this.

The nine approvals given on Sunday were the first for PM Netanyahu's current government.

With tensions in the high West Bank, the move has alarmed world powers worrying about the escalation of greater violence.

Israeli forces have carried out attacks on nearly daily in the West Bank, pursuing a crackdown that began last year after a spate of Palestinian deadly attacks. This year more than 40 Palestinians, including militant fighters and civilians, have been killed by Israeli forces. At the same time, 10 people were killed in Israel in two attacks by Palestinians.

It is known, most world powers consider illegal settlements built by Israel on land they seized in the 1967 war of Arab powers.

Meanwhile, Israel denies it and cites alkitabiah relations, history and politics with the West Bank, as well as security interests.

Since the 1967 war, Israel has established 132 settlements on land that Palestine sees as the core of a future country, according to the Peace Now supervisory group.

Apart from official settlements, the settlers' group has built many outposts without the government's permission. Some have been flattened by the police, others passed back and forth.