Western allies step up pressure on Israel over West Bank settlements

Israel's expanding settlement activity and rising settler violence in the occupied West Bank have fueled growing concern among its Western allies and renewed calls for a two-state solution.

The leaders of Britain, France and Canada issued a joint statement on Tuesday affirming their "commitment to protect the two-state solution" in the face of the "systematic expansion" of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

"A two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is critical for peace, stability and security in the Middle East and beyond," and the settlements "pose a direct and urgent threat to that vision for peace," British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in the joint statement.

"Settlements are illegal under international law," they said, condemning the Israeli government's decision to progress the E1 settlement, and the "dramatic increase in settler violence."

Also on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of 12 countries, including the UK, Canada and France, issued a joint statement announcing the introduction of restrictions on trade in goods with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"Today, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK confirm their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law, or that they are actively considering these and other measures, in accordance with their national procedures," the nations' foreign ministers said in a joint statement.

The situation in the West Bank is rapidly deteriorating amid unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion, said the statement, adding that France, the UK and Canada will propose national-level measures to ban trade in goods with settlements.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday that France will launch a process to ban products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

"France is going to put an end to its commerce with Israeli settlements in Palestine, along with 11 other countries which have also undertaken similar engagements," Barrot wrote on X.

France maintains that Israel must halt settlement expansion and associated violence, Barrot said, adding that France cannot support, through trade, a situation that threatens the safety of Israelis and Palestinians as well as regional peace and stability. He also called on the European Union to take appropriate measures.

The latest push for tougher measures followed Israel's advancement of the E1 settlement project in the West Bank in August by issuing a tender for 1,234 housing units.

According to a tender published online by Israel's Ministry of Construction and Housing, the project covers part of a broader plan to build 3,401 housing units in the E1 area east of Jerusalem.

The 12 foreign ministers said the E1 decision was among the developments undermining prospects for a Palestinian state and called on the Israeli government to immediately halt settlement expansion and ensure accountability for settler violence.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog criticized the planned British move on Tuesday, calling sanctions a "grave miscalculation."

Meanwhile, Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh said on Tuesday that the measures were a "step in the right direction," while calling for binding international action to halt illegal settlement expansion and the de facto annexation of the West Bank.

(With input from agencies)