Israel’s decision to construct settlements in the E1 area on the West Bank “is unacceptable and a violation of international law,” said foreign ministers of 25 countries, including Greece, in a joint statement on Friday.
The move comes after an Israeli defense committee earlier this week gave its final approval for the controversial settlement project which has been frozen for two decades amid international opposition, as the 3,400 homes construction plan would cut off the occupied West Bank from East Jerusalem and divide the territory into two.
In the joint statement, also signed by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, the 25 foreign ministers further call on Israel to retract the decision, which “risks undermining security and [fueling] further violence and instability.”
Meanwhile, the famine in Gaza was officially confirmed for the first time by the independent experts of the Famine Review Committee to have reached Phase 5, which means there is now reasonable evidence to support the claim. Israel and the US have dismissed these famine claims.
25 states warn against Israel settlement plans on West Bank’s E1
The foreign ministers of 25 countries co-signed the joint statement that warns against Israel’s settlement construction plans in the E1 area of the West Bank. Among these are: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
“We condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms,” the statement to Israel reads.
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich defended the plan saying it will make a two-state solution impossible by dividing any Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem, but the 25 FMs believe this brings no benefits to the Israeli people.
“Instead, it risks undermining security and fuels further violence and instability, taking us further away from peace,” the joint statement maintains.
“The Government of Israel still has an opportunity to stop the E1 plan going any further. We encourage them to urgently retract this plan,” the statement concludes. “Unilateral action by the Israeli government undermines our collective desire for security and prosperity in the Middle East. The Israeli government must stop settlement construction in line with UNSC Resolution 2334 and remove their restrictions on the finances of the Palestinian Authority.”
Famine declared in Gaza
While international leaders are voicing their concern over Israeli settlement plans in the West Bank’s E1 area, an initiative involving 21 aid groups, UN agencies, and regional organizations funded by the European Union, Germany, Britain and Canada, has confirmed famine conditions in Gaza amidst the continuing Israel-Hamas war.
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis by its independent international food security experts that was released on Friday claims that the current situation in the Gaza governorate area has reached Phase 5, which means there is reasonable evidence to support famine conditions.
According to the report, evidence on acute malnutrition indicate that famine thresholds have been met or surpassed in the particular area, as fifteen percent or more of children are acutely malnourished, according to the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference. Complementary evidence showed rapidly worsening underlying factors of acute malnutrition.
The analysis adds that, although direct evidence on nutrition-related mortality is not available, there is indirect evidence that deaths primarily due to undernutrition significantly exceed reported deaths. The Ministry of Health mortality counts are of those that perish in a health facility or whose body is transferred to a health facility. Unreported or unknown deaths in the community are unaccounted for.
Other areas of Gaza are currently classified as Phase 4 and 3, but the analysis projects that the famine will spread across the entire Gaza Strip in the coming weeks unless a full-scale and sustained humanitarian aid program is implemented.
“Current efforts, including airdrops, the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, and humanitarian aid operations, remain far from adequate even to achieve temporary improvement, given the extreme lack of access to food among the most vulnerable populations,” the report maintained.
According to the report, Israel’s plans for the takeover of the Gaza Governorate “may increase the magnitude and severity of conditions expected in the coming weeks.”
Israel calls IPC report on Gaza famine a lie
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has called the IPC report “an outright lie” and said it was based on information provided by Hamas.
“Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation. Since the beginning of the war Israel has enabled 2 million tons of aid to enter the Gaza Strip, over one ton of aid per person,” an announcement said.
PM Netanyahu’s Office added that “Israel will continue to act responsibly, ensuring aid reaches Gaza’s civilians while destroying Hamas’s terror machine. The Hamas-orchestrated ‘starvation campaign’ will not deter us from freeing our hostages and eliminating Hamas.”
Netanyahu’s Office maintained: “The civilized world must demand two things: the immediate, unconditional release of all hostages and the truth.”
In a similar tone, a spokesperson for the US State Department, when asked about the IPC analysis, said Hamas was “systematically promoting a false narrative of deliberate mass starvation to put political pressure on Israel.”
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