Key European leaders demand Israel halt West Bank settlement project

France, Italy, Britain and Germany on Thursday piled on mounting international condemnation of a major settlement project in the occupied West Bank, after Israeli authorities opened bidding for more than 1,200 homes in the area. The E1 plan was green-lit by Israel last year and would further separate east Jerusalem, oc

France, Italy, Britain and Germany on Thursday piled on mounting international condemnation of a major settlement project in the occupied West Bank, after Israeli authorities opened bidding for more than 1,200 homes in the area.

The UN has said the E1 plan posed an “existential threat” to a contiguous Palestinian state.

France, Italy, Britain, and Germany strongly condemned the Israeli move, calling for the expansion of settlements to be retracted.

France, Italy, Britain and Germany criticised Israel’s plan to build more than 1,200 homes in the West Bank, calling for the plans to be withdrawn and settlement expansion to end.

The E1 plan was green-lit by Israel last year and would further separate east Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel and predominantly inhabited by Palestinians, from the West Bank.

France, Britain, Germany and Italy condemned on Thursday the Israeli government's opening for bids to build more than 1,200 homes in a controversial West Bank settlement plan approved last year.

France, Britain, Germany and Italy condemned on Thursday the Israeli government's opening for bids to build more than 1,200 homes in a controversial West Bank settlement plan approved last year.

Israel's foreign minister on Thursday slammed a demand by the UK government to halt a major settlement project in the occupied West Bank, after Israeli authorities opened bidding for more than 1,200 homes in the area. Britain said it had summoned Israel's charge d'affairs over the E1 plan, which was gre