Palestinian FM says Israel settler homes plan for West Bank is ‘most dangerous’

Israel’s plan to build new settler homes in a particularly sensitive area of the occupied West Bank would destroy the prospect of a two-state solution, Palestinian FM Riyad al-Maliki said on Wednesday.

The plan to build 3,500 new homes in an area known as E1 “is so dangerous, more dangerous than any other settlement plans in the West Bank,” al-Maliki told reporters on the sidelines of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu made a pledge on Tuesday to build new settler homes, the latest in a string of promises to expand settlements as he faces both a tight general election and a corruption trial. Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories are considered illegal by the UN and most foreign governments.

Al-Maliki also welcomed a database drawn up by the UN of 112 companies with activities in Israeli settlements, AP reported. He said the list was “just the beginning” and Palestinian authorities were looking at possible “legal measures” to force the companies to pay compensation.