Mahmoud Abbas welcomes international rejection of E1 settlement plan

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has welcomed a joint statement issued by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, and Norway rejecting Israel’s E1 settlement plan. The international group called for the immediate reversal of the plan and an end to settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

Abbas stated that the E1 plan constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 2334. He warned that the plan would sever the connection between the northern and southern West Bank and isolate East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings, thereby threatening the viability of a sovereign Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

The President urged the international community and the European Union to take concrete actions to halt settlement activities and settler violence, emphasizing that settlement and annexation policies do not change the legal status of the occupied territories.