Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called the tender for the E1 settlement "unacceptable and destructive", warning it would cut through the heart of Palestinian territory. He said he told Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar that "the government of Israel must immediately halt plans for the E1 settlement, withdraw the tender and cease all settlement expansion".
The project would build roughly 1,200 housing units on land separating East Jerusalem from the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim. Critics say construction there would sever the West Bank in two, dealing a severe blow to hopes for a future Palestinian state. Bids are due October 19 — just eight days before Israeli parliamentary elections.
Israel has built settlements in the West Bank since capturing the territory in the 1967 Six-Day War, a policy the international community has long opposed as illegal.
The Foreign Office said it would impose sanctions on individuals involved in the settlement expansion, with further details to be announced in the coming weeks. Israel's most senior diplomat in London was called in to receive the British government's protest.
Britain also raised concerns over humanitarian access to Gaza. Middle East Minister Stephen Doughty toured warehouses in Egypt packed with aid waiting to cross into the territory and said the amount actually reaching Palestinians remained far too small. He urged Israel to lift blockades and allow aid convoys swift, safe passage into Gaza.
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Source: PAP, Polish Radio