Israel condemned over settlement expansion programme
Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem would end hopes for a two-state peace deal, says UN chief
Paris and London called in Israel's envoys for consultations yesterday as the Jewish state faced mounting diplomatic pressure over plans to build 3,000 settler homes in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Germany and Russia also raised concerns about the Israeli plans, which the UN chief warned could wipe out peace hopes.
Israel has faced a wave of top-level diplomatic protests after the construction proposals emerged on Friday as payback for the Palestinians winning the rank of a UN non-member observer state.
Some of the construction is to take place in a controversial corridor of land east of Jerusalem, called E1, where new settlements could effectively cut the West Bank in two.
In Paris, foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said Israeli ambassador Yossi Gal had been summoned so France could express its "grave concern" over the settlements plan.
"Construction in the E1 area would seriously undermine the two-state solution by isolating Jerusalem … from the West Bank and threatening the territorial contiguity and viability of a future Palestinian state," Lalliot said.
The Israeli embassy said Gal had "clarified the Israeli position by explaining that it was impossible to expect Israel to stand idly by after the unilateral Palestinian move at the UN".