Foreign minister joins condemnation of new Israeli settlement project

Posting on X, he said the settlements “are illegal under international law” and called on the Israeli government to withdraw the tenders and halt the project.

France, Italy, the UK and Germany have called on Israel to put an end to the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank and to withdraw the tenders for the construction of 1,200 homes.

Israel approved the E1 programme, which involves the construction of around 3,400 homes in the West Bank, in August last year. Late on Tuesday evening, the Israeli authorities published a tender for the first 1,200 homes between East Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement.

“At a time when the West Bank is experiencing serious instability, with unprecedented levels of violence committed by settlers against civilians and severe restrictions imposed on the Palestinian economy, this decision is all the more worrying,” a joint press release from the four countries reads.

“The E1 settlement will undermine the prospects for a two-state solution by creating a division across the West Bank and undermining the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian Territories.”

The area is considered one of the most sensitive points in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Prévot has also criticised the far-right Israeli National Security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who recently called for 30 to 40 people to be killed every night in the Gaza Strip.

“Belgium already declared him persona non grata in September 2025. But I am calling for a broad and strong European response,” he said. “Europe cannot simply condemn such statements while at the same time maintaining a form of political normality with someone who behaves in this way.”

He described it as a matter of credibility. “We must also take action, and not just pay lip service, if we are to change the Israeli government’s stance.”