UK summons Israeli ambassador in protest of E1 settlement

The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has summoned the Israeli ambassador to London, to protest the approval of the controversial E1 settlement that will split the occupied West Bank in two and effectively kill the two-state solution.

In a statement released on Thursday, an FCDO spokesperson said that Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely "was summoned in response to the Israeli Higher Planning Committee's decision to approve plans for settlement construction in the E1 area, East of Jerusalem".

"The UK and 21 international partners have written to condemn this decision in the strongest terms," the spokesperson added, calling it "a flagrant breach of international law".

Following her summoning, Hotovely told The Daily Mail that she told FCDO officials not to "tell us where to build in Jerusalem... I wouldn't tell the British where to build in London."

"We see E1 as part of greater Jerusalem," she continued.

The comment is seen as reaffirming Israel's policy of a united Jerusalem following the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem in 1980, which Palestinians want as the capital of a future independent state.

The E1 settlement project, which was given the green light for construction by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich last week, would see the construction of 3,400 homes for thousands of settlers on 12 square kilometres of land in the occupied West Bank.

At the time of the announcement, Smotrich said the project would "make a two-state solution impossible by dividing any Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem."

He has been a longtime advocate for Israel's annexation of the occupied West Bank, which many fear has been ongoing slowly through the expansion of illegal settlements in the territory.

Alongside the UK, Finland also summoned the Israeli ambassador to "express Finland's deep concern over Israel's plan to take over Gaza City and advance the E1 settlement plan".

"Finland called for the unhindered access of humanitarian aid to Gaza in line with international law," the country's foreign ministry said in a statement on X.

Both countries signed a joint statement alongside 23 others, including Australia, Italy and Canada, condemning the plan, and called for "its immediate reversal in the strongest terms".

"The Israeli government must stop settlement construction in line with UNSC Resolution 2334 and remove their restriction on the finances of the Palestinian Authority."

In 2024, a ruling from the International Court of Justice, the UN's highest court, said that Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem is illegal under international law.