Finland on Friday rejected the initiative taken by the Israeli government to establish 22 new settlements across the occupied West Bank.
“We reject the Israeli government's approval of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. Settlements are illegal under international law,” Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen wrote in a post on her social media platform X.
She also said that creating deliberate obstacles to the two-state solution is unacceptable and runs counter to international efforts to advance peace.
Earlier on Thursday, Israel said it will establish 22 new settlements across the occupied West Bank, in what officials described as a strategic expansion of Israeli presence in the Palestinian territory, reported Xinhua.
A map released by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich shows that the plan includes the reestablishment of two outposts, Homesh and Sa-Nur, in the northern part of the territory. Both outposts were evacuated in 2005 as part of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed the Security Cabinet's approval of the plan, calling it a "historic decision" to "strengthen our grip" on the West Bank.
The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges to take full control of Gaza, while pro-settlement ministers, including Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, advocate for resettling evacuated Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and has expanded settlements there ever since. Currently, more than 720,000 Israeli settlers live in heavily-guarded communities there.
UN Resolution 2334, along with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, maintains that all Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal.
The international community widely considers the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, where the Palestinians wish to establish their future state, an obstacle to achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
- Finland
- Censures
- Israeli settlements
- West Bank
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
