UK condemns new Israeli settlement project, warns it will jeopardize 2-state solution

Condemning the Israeli government's new settlement project, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy warned Thursday that the Israeli actions jeopardize the two-state solution.

"The situation in Gaza is appalling and the Israeli government's actions are further jeopardising the two-state solution," Lammy wrote on US social media company X.

He noted that he discussed with his Canadian and French counterparts the need for an immediate ceasefire, release of all hostages, flood of aid, and a plan to deliver lasting peace.

On Thursday, Israeli media reported that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved the construction of 3,401 settler units in Ma'ale Adumim, east of Jerusalem, and 3,515 more in surrounding areas. The project aims to split the West Bank into two parts, severing connections between its northern and southern cities and isolating East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced the move as part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vision for "Greater Israel," warning it would entrench the occupation and eliminate the viability of a Palestinian state.

The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In an advisory opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.