“We, the states of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom, condemn the approval by the Israeli Security Cabinet of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank,” reads a joint statement published by the French Foreign Ministry.
"We recall our clear opposition to all forms of annexation and to the expansion of settlement policy," the statement reads.
On Sunday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician, announced that 19 settlements had been approved. Smotrich described it as a way to block the formation of a Palestinian state.
Israel has thus approved a total of 69 settlements in the past three years.
The decision was condemned by the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Tuesday.
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