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The United Kingdom, Australia and Japan are among 21 countries that have condemned Israel\u2019s plans to build a controversial illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, which they say renders a future two-state solution for Palestinians impossible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms,\u201d the 21 countries said in a joint statement on Thursday, describing Israel\u2019s construction plans as a \u201cviolation of international law\u201d.<\/p>\n
The statement follows news this week that Israel will formally move forward with a settlement on a 12-square-kilometre (4.6-square-mile) tract of land east of Jerusalem known as \u201cEast 1\u201d or \u201cE1\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n The development, which will include 3,400 new homes for Israeli settlers, will cut off much of the occupied West Bank from occupied East Jerusalem while also linking up thousands of illegal Israeli settlements in the area.<\/p>\n East Jerusalem carries particular significance to Palestinians as the top choice for the capital of a future Palestinian state.<\/p>\n The group of 21 nations said any plans for a two-state solution will become impossible \u201cby dividing any Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem\u201d.<\/p>\n The group includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.<\/p>\n The illegal settlement also \u201crisks undermining security and fuels further violence and instability, taking us further away from peace\u201d, the group said, while bringing \u201cno benefits to the Israeli people\u201d.<\/p>\n The Palestinian Authority, the European Commission and United Nations chief Antonio Guterres have all voiced opposition to plans for the E1 settlement since Israel first announced<\/span> the news last week.<\/p>\n \u201cCoupled with ongoing settler violence and military operations, these unilateral decisions are fuelling an already tense situation on the ground and further eroding any possibility for peace,\u201d the European Union said in a statement on August 14.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said settlements such as E1 will help erase Palestine from the map, even as Palestinian statehood gains increasing international recognition from UN member states.<\/p>\n \u201cThis reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise,\u201d Smotrich said last week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n