LONDON: Countries including Britain, Canada and Germany and ​others on Wednesday condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West ‌Bank, saying ‌they violated ‌international ⁠law ​and risked ‌fueling instability.

“We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of ⁠settlements,” said a joint ‌statement released ‍by Britain, ‍which also included ‍Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway ​and Spain.

“We recall that such unilateral actions, as ⁠part of a wider intensification of the settlement policies in the West Bank, not only violate international law but also risk fueling instability,” the statement ‌added.