Pressure is mounting on Israel to scrap plans to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank ahead of a White House meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump. Eight US Democratic senators have urged Trump to oppose the move, warning it threatens the two-state solution.
In a letter, the senators called on Netanyahu to reverse course and urged Trump to clearly reinforce US opposition to actions that set the conditions for irreversible annexation. Trump, when asked about the settlements, said he was against annexation, adding, 'We have enough things to think about now.'
The UK has also condemned the Israeli government's decision. A Foreign Office spokesperson stated that any unilateral attempt to alter the demographic or geographic make-up of Palestine is wholly unacceptable and inconsistent with international law, calling on Israel to reverse the measures immediately.
The new measures would cancel a decades-old ban on direct land sales to Jews in the West Bank and declassify local land registry records, violating the Oslo Accords. Until now, settlers could only buy homes from registered companies on state-controlled land.
Israeli far-right politicians, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have openly pushed for settlers to be able to take Palestinian land. Smotrich said the goal was to 'kill the idea of a Palestinian state'. The expansion has exacerbated tensions and jeopardised future Palestinian statehood, particularly following the recent war in Gaza.
