Britain has summoned Israel’s chargé d’affaires and demanded that the Israeli government withdraw a tender for construction in the controversial E1 settlement area in the West Bank.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on Wednesday described Israel’s publication of the tender as an “unacceptable and destructive act”, warning that construction in E1 could threaten the viability of a future Palestinian state.
Miliband said he had also spoken to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and called on the government to “halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion”.
The E1 area lies east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. Israel this week opened bidding for the construction of 1,234 housing units across seven residential compounds in the area.
Palestinians and critics of the project argue that developing E1 would disrupt territorial continuity between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank and further separate East Jerusalem from surrounding Palestinian areas.
“E1 would cut across the heart of Palestine and risks separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem,” Miliband said, warning that it would endanger a two-state solution.
Israeli governments have backed development in the strategically located area for decades, but the plans have repeatedly drawn international criticism and faced delays.
The latest tender follows months of warnings from Britain over E1. In July, the UK government explicitly warned businesses against bidding for construction contracts in E1 or other Israeli settlements.
Britain considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law and has repeatedly called on Israel to halt their expansion.
Miliband’s decision to summon the Israeli chargé d’affaires marks a further diplomatic protest from London as tensions with Israel over settlement policy intensify.
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European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Four million workers across Spain joined a general strike on Wednesday over the country’s deepening housing crisis, unions said, bringing disruption to factories, ports, shops and public transport just weeks before a snap general election.
European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Tajikistan is urging regional allies to step up support for its border with Afghanistan following a series of deadly armed incidents. Despite building more than 80 new border outposts, Dushanbe says it needs further assistance to secure its southern frontier.
Eight people have been killed and at least 17 injured after an apartment building collapsed into a neighbouring construction site in Brooklyn, New York, as rescuers continued searching the rubble for possible survivors.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for facilitating talks between Russia and Ukraine, but warned that any foreign troops deployed in Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets by Moscow.
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