By IRNA
London : The British government has rebuked the latest plans by Israel to build more illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian lands in breach of the recent Annapolis agreement.
A Foreign Office spokesman said the British government was “concerned by reports that Israel plans to build in the settlement of Givat Zeev.”
“We have raised our concerns about these latest reports with the Israeli MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs),” the spokesman said following Sunday’s approval of the building of up to 750 new homes in the illegal Jewish settlement on the West Bank.
The UK, he said, “stressed that we see this as unhelpful particularly when Israelis and Palestinians should be focusing on full implementation of their obligations under phase one of the Roadmap, which include freezing all settlement activity.”
The British government has repeatedly warned that all Israeli settlements anywhere in the occupied territories are illegal under international law, but has continually refused to threaten any sanctions.
“We believe they are a serious impediment to a negotiated two- state solution,” the Foreign Office spokesman said in his latest statement.