Britain, Italy, France and Germany on Thursday piled on mounting international condemnation of a major Israeli settlement project in the occupied West Bank.
The four countries said the expansion was "unacceptable" and warned that the E1 development would "undermine the prospect of the two-state solution by driving a wedge through the West Bank and harming the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian Territories."
The E1 plan was greenlit by Israel last year and would further separate East Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel and predominantly inhabited by Palestinians, from the West Bank.
London, Paris, Rome and Berlin said the international community had long opposed settlement expansion and repeatedly raised its concerns with Israel – privately and publicly.
"International Law is clear that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal," their joint statement said, adding that the position had been reaffirmed by the U.N. Security Council.
