- A Foreign Office minister has warned that Israel's 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank represent “a deliberate obstacle to Palestinian statehood.”
- Hamish Falconer said the UK “condemns” the decision.
- Israeli defence minister Israel Katz described the decision as “a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel”.
- Labour committed to “recognising a Palestinian state as a contribution to a renewed peace process which results in a two-state solution” in its last general election manifesto.
- Mr Falconer wrote on X that the settlements “are illegal under international law, further imperil the two-state solution, and do not protect Israel.”
IN FULL
