By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday vowed there will be no Palestinian state, asserted Jewish ownership over the land, as Israel pushes forward settlement plans in the sensitive E1 area.
The move drew global condemnation, with the UN warned it threatens Palestinian statehood, and Britain and France set to recognize Palestine at the UN.
“We are going to fulfill our promise that there will be no Palestinian state, this place belongs to us,” Netanyahu said at the event in Maale Adumim, an Israeli settlement just east of Jerusalem.
“We will safeguard our heritage, our land and our security… We are going to double the city’s population.” The event was streamed live by his office.
Israel has long sought to build on the roughly 12-square-kilometre (five-square-mile) area known as E1, though the project had been stalled for years due to international opposition.
The site lies between Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, close to key routes linking the northern and southern parts of Palestinian territory.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved plans to construct around 3,400 homes on this highly sensitive tract of land.
His announcement sparked condemnation, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the settlement would effectively split the West Bank in two and pose an “existential threat” to the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are deemed illegal under international law, regardless of Israeli planning approvals.
Britain and France, have declared their intention to recognize the State of Palestine during the UNGA high level debate later this month.
