More than 20 countries sign joint statement opposing Israel's resettlement plan

View of area E1 in the West Bank, August 14, 2025. (Photo: THX/TTXVN)

A day earlier, Israel approved a plan to build about 3,400 houses on a 12 square kilometer plot of land in East Jerusalem.

All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, territory occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law.

Among the signatories are Australia, Canada, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, as well as the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs. The joint statement by the foreign ministers “condemns the decision and calls for its immediate reversal.”

According to the statement, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also admitted that the plan "would make a two-state solution impossible, by dividing Palestinian territory and restricting access to Jerusalem."

The foreign ministers asserted that the plan “does not benefit the people of Israel, but instead threatens their security, fuels violence and instability, and pushes them all further away from peace .”

The Palestinian Authority has strongly opposed the plan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini and Western countries have all expressed deep concern over the plan, which would separate the West Bank from East Jerusalem and seriously threaten the prospects of a two-state solution.

Mr Lazzarini warned that the project would “completely cut off the northern and central West Bank from the south, breaking its territorial integrity,” and making the establishment of a Palestinian state “increasingly impossible.”

On August 21, the UK summoned Israeli Ambassador to London Tzipi Hotovely to protest. The British Foreign Office issued a statement affirming: "If implemented, this settlement plan would seriously violate international law and fragment the future Palestinian state, undermining the two-state solution."

On the same day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel will immediately resume negotiations to rescue all hostages in the Gaza Strip and end the nearly two-year conflict, but "on terms acceptable to Israel." He also emphasized that "this is a decisive stage," but did not disclose the time or location of the negotiations.

This was Netanyahu's first reaction to a temporary ceasefire proposal proposed by Egypt and Qatar, which Hamas accepted on August 18. An Israeli official confirmed that Israel would send a negotiating team as soon as the meeting location was set.

However, Mr Netanyahu is still determined to pursue the plan to defeat Hamas and control Gaza City - the most populous center of the Gaza Strip. An Israeli official revealed that the country's Security Cabinet is expected to meet later today to give final approval to the plan in Gaza City. In the past 10 days, thousands of Palestinians have had to leave their homes as Israeli forces close in on the city.

The plan to take control of Gaza City was approved by Israel's Security Cabinet earlier this month, despite calls from many allies to reconsider. The Israeli government's position is that any deal must guarantee the release of all 50 hostages seized in October 2023, of whom Israel believes only about 20 are still alive.

Israel has called up 60,000 additional reservists, preparing for a large-scale ground offensive, despite international criticism. Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will only accept the end of its control plan if Hamas disarms, releases all hostages, fully demilitarizes the Gaza Strip, Israel maintains ultimate security control and establishes a civilian administration that is not run by Israel - nor by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The current ceasefire proposal includes a 60-day ceasefire, the release of 10 surviving hostages and the return of 18 bodies held by Hamas, in exchange for Israel releasing about 200 Palestinian prisoners. After the temporary ceasefire takes effect, the two sides will continue negotiations on a permanent ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Gazans held a rare rally on August 21 at the Rashad Shawa Cultural Center in Gaza City to call for an end to the conflict. During the demonstration, Israeli airstrikes continued to target the Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods.

Gaza's Health Ministry says at least 70 people have been killed in the past 24 hours by Israeli airstrikes.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating due to intense Israeli attacks, especially in the Az Zaytoun area, East and South of Gaza City. OCHA said that since August 8, airstrikes have hit more than 50 residential buildings, killing at least 87 people./.

According to VNA

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/hon-20-nuoc-ky-tuyen-bo-chung-phan-doi-ke-hỏa-tai-dinh-cu-cua-israel-259042.htm