Dawn
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08:48 Dec 25, 2025
Fourteen countries including Britain, Canada, France and others have condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, prompting strong criticism from Tel Aviv. On Sunday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that authorities had greenlit the settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state. “On the ground, we are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian terror state,” said Smotrich, a vocal proponent of settlement expansion and a settler himself. Subsequently, fourteen countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Canada, issued a statement late on Wednesday urging Israel to reverse its decision. “We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements,” said a joint statement released by Britain, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. Such unilateral actions, they said, “...