UK Foreign Office Minister condemns further expansion of illegal Israeli settlements – UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office press release/Non-UN document

Foreign Office Minister condemns further expansion of illegal Israeli settlements

16 August 2011

Foreign Office Minister Henry Bellingham has condemned the decision of the Israeli Government to build housing units in the illegal West Bank settlement of Ariel.

Speaking today the Foreign Office Minister said:

“I condemn the decision of the Israeli Government to build 277 housing units in the illegal West Bank settlement of Ariel, 16 kilometres inside the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Israel has again ignored the calls of the international community to refrain from actions which make a return to negotiations more difficult. These repeated actions, illegal under international law, undermine confidence and threaten a two state solution.”