BEIRUT, Aug 15 (Agencies): The UN human rights office said on Friday an Israeli plan to build thousands of new homes between an Israeli settlement in the West Bank and near East Jerusalem was illegal under international law, and would put nearby Palestinians at risk of forced eviction, which it described as a war crime, reports Reuters.
Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday vowed to press on a long-delayed settlement project, saying the move would "bury" the idea of a Palestinian state.
The UN rights office spokesperson said the plan would break the West Bank into isolated enclaves and that it was "a war crime for an occupying power to transfer its own civilian population into the territory it occupies".
About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, a move not recognised by most countries, but has not formally extended sovereignty over the West Bank.
Most world powers say settlement expansion erodes the viability of a two-state solution by breaking up territory the Palestinians seek as part of a future independent state.
The two-state plan envisages a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, existing side by side with Israel, which captured all three territories in the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel cites historical and biblical ties to the area and says the settlements provide strategic depth and security and that the West Bank is "disputed" not "occupied".
Meanwhile, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Friday accused Lebanon's government of "handing" the country to Israel by pushing for the group's disarmament, warning it would fight to keep its weapons.
Qassem spoke in a televised address after meeting Iran's top security chief Ali Larijani, whose country has long backed the Lebanese militant group.
Hezbollah emerged badly weakened from last year's war with Israel, and under US pressure the Lebanese government has ordered the army to devise a plan to disarm the group by the end of the year.
Iran, whose so-called "axis of resistance" includes Hezbollah, has also suffered a series of setbacks, most recently in the war with Israel that saw the United States strike its nuclear sites.
He also warned the Lebanese government against confronting the militant group, saying there would be "no life" in Lebanon in that event.
Qassem said Hezbollah and the Amal movement, its Shiite Muslim ally, had decided to delay any street protests against a US-backed disarmament plan as they still see room for dialogue with the Lebanese government. But he said any future protests could reach the US Embassy in Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia slams Israel's move to annex Palestinian land and block 'two-state' solution
Saudi Arabia on Friday condemned moves by Israeli authorities to push ahead with construction of settlements around the occupied city of Jerusalem.
In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs also denounced pronouncements by Israeli officials to block internationally backed efforts to create a sovereign Palestinian state as part of a solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel's moves to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state "is a violation of international law, the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of their sovereign state," the statement said.
"These decisions and statements confirm the continuation of the illegal expansionist policies of this Israeli government, its obstruction of the peace process, and the serious threat to the possibility of a two-state solution," the statement said.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also strongly condemned Israel's approval of a plan to build 3,400 new settlement units in the West Bank, including in Jerusalem.
IOC also stressed that the Israeli occupation and colonial settlement were illegal and must be ended immediately, state news agency SPA reported.
"Israel's ongoing policies of aggression, settlement, destruction, displacement, and blockade, describing them as systematic crimes that violate the rights of the Palestinian people, undermine the two-state solution, entrench annexation plans and attempt to impose Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories," the bloc said.
Germany tells Israeli government to
stop West Bank settlement construction
Germany on Friday called on the Israeli government to stop settlement construction in the West Bank after Israel's far-right finance minister said work would start on a plan for thousands of home that would divide the Palestinian territory.
Germany "firmly rejects the Israeli government's announcements regarding the approval of thousands of new housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank," said a foreign ministry spokesperson in a statement.
Israel's Smotrich launches settlement plan to 'bury'
idea of Palestinian state
Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that work would start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, a move his office said would "bury" the idea of a Palestinian state.
The Palestinian government, allies and campaign groups condemned the scheme, calling it illegal and saying the fragmentation of territory would rip up peace plans for the region.
Standing at the site of the planned settlement in Maale Adumim on Thursday, Smotrich, a settler himself, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had agreed to the revival of the E1 development, though there was no immediate confirmation from either.
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