Press release

Minister for the Middle East statement on settlement units in the West Bank

Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood deeply concerned by reports that plans for over 450 new settlement units are being progressed in the West Bank.

• From: Foreign & Commonwealth Office and The Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood
• Published: 2 September 2016

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

Foreign Office minister, Tobias Ellwood, said:

The UK is deeply concerned by reports that plans for over 450 new settlement units are being progressed in the northern West Bank.

The increased pace of settlement advancement, including moves to retroactively approve unauthorised settlement units and outposts, fundamentally calls into question Israel’s commitment to the two-state solution.

The Quartet Report laid out the damaging impact of Israel’s systematic policy of settlement construction and expansion in Area C of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the parallel obstruction of Palestinian development. Once again, we urge Israel to cease its policy of settlement expansion, which is a barrier to peace.

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Published 2 September 2016