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Egypt condemns Israeli bill legalising settlements on Palestinian lands International voices criticised the bill, and called for the activation of the UN security council resolution
Egypt's Foreign Affairs Ministry rejected on Tuesday Israel's settlement legalisation law. According to a statement from the ministry, the law "undermines the chances of a two-state solution." The ministry said that the decision to consolidate illegal settlements violates international law and norms, as well as the UN security council decisions in this regard. The Israeli parliament passed a bill on Monday that retroactively legalises almost 4,000 settler homes built on privately-owned Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, and will grant the original inhabitants of those lands financial compensation or alternative land. The ministry also said that the bill would impede efforts to revive the peace process and the resumption of direct negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides. They added that it also represents "encroachment on the right of the Palestinian people to establish their state on the entire territory with its capital in east Jerusalem." The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas saw it as an aggression against his country. A number of countries, as well as the European Union, condemned the bill. It also stirred international controversy and outraged Palestinians, who called for the activation of the UN security council resolution, which was voted for on 23 December and affirmed the illegality of Israeli settlements built on Palestinian territories. The resolution was put forward by four members after Egypt withdrew, despite it being the country that originally drafted the resolution. Egypt has prepared the resolution to demand the immediate and complete halt of building Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands. There were several resolutions previously adopted by the UN security council regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Recently, there were attempts by a number of countries to resolve the issue, especially Egypt, as the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry travelled to Israel for peace talks.
