London [UK], August 21: UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has issued a rebuke to Israel after it published a tender for construction of a settlement in the occupied West Bank, calling it an "unacceptable and destructive act."
He said the United Kingdom would not "stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution", as he pledged to set out measures in response to Israeli policies in the coming weeks.
Miliband said the UK had been clear publicly and privately about its opposition to the E1 settlement project, which he said risks endangering a two-state solution by separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem.
"I made clear to the Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar that the Israeli government must halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion," the foreign secretary said.
The Foreign Office also summoned Israel's charge d'affaires to set out the UK's "profound objection to this move." Miliband said: "This Israeli government's publication of a tender for the E1 settlement project is an unacceptable and destructive act. E1 would cut across the heart of Palestine and risks separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem, which would endanger the viability of a two-state solution."
Source: Qatar Tribune
