Press statement on decision by Government of Israel to build new houses in settlements

The expansion of these settlements violates international law and further endangers the viability of the two-State solution to achieve fair and lasting peace in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. It is also a counter-productive measure in light of the positive events related to the normalisation agreements reached between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrein.

As we have directly stressed to the Government of Israel, this step also undermines the efforts to re-establish confidence between the parties with a view to the resumption of dialogue. Hence, we call for the construction of settlements to be immediately halted, together with the evictions and demolition of Palestinian structures in East Jerusalem and in the West Bank.

We call for the full application of Resolution 2334 of the United Nations Security Council in all its provisions. We stress that we do not recommend any border changes from 4 June 1967, including those in Jerusalem, unless these can be agreed on between the parties. The suspension of the plans to annex parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories must become permanent. We call for both parties to abstain from any unilateral action and to resume credible dialogue and direct negotiations on questions relating to the Final Statute.

Non official translation