Israel moves forward with new settlement plans despite opposition from allies

The IDF’s Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria announced on Tuesday it will meet on Feb. 22 to discuss moving forward with plans for developing new settlements.

This statement was issued despite harsh criticism by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, which expressed opposition to the Israeli government’s plans.

“We…are deeply troubled by the Israeli government’s announcement that it is advancing nearly 10,000 settlement units and intends to begin a process to normalize nine outposts that were previously deemed illegal under Israeli law,” reads the joint statement.

The statement also makes clear that the signatory governments “strongly oppose these unilateral actions.”

International condemnation of the Israeli building plans, however, did not satisfy the Palestinian Authority leadership, who expressed much harsher accusations against Israel, and called upon the United Nations to bring about “accountability” for Israel’s actions.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, urged the UN security council to “speak with one voice to send a clear and firm message to Israel, the occupying Power…that it will face accountability for its flagrant contempt of international law and the international community.”

While the joint statement condemned the recent decisions made by the Israeli government, and stated that such decisions “will only serve to exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution,” it did not indicate that any concrete actions would be taken against Israel as a result.