Israeli settlements in West Bank hinder Palestinian statehood, says British Foreign Secretary

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has addressed key issues concerning the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict, emphasizing that the occupying Tel Aviv regime’s settlement expansion activities have negatively impacted the viability of a Palestinian state.

Speaking at a session of House of Lords' International Relations and Defense Committee on Tuesday, Cameron said the illegal settlements constructed by Israel in the West Bank were exacerbating the challenges in establishing a Palestinian state.

“It was getting harder because of the settlement-building by Israel in the West Bank, so technically creating the Palestinian state has got harder and we have to think about that,” he said, noting that the so-called two-state solution could become an “impossibility” and “considered no longer viable by either side.”

“ ... It's got harder, but it's not impossible ... recognition is an important part of helping to give the Palestinians a perspective towards statehood, but it doesn't create a state just by everybody recognizing it. You've got to set out the things that actually create a state: a government, its ability to govern ... ,” Cameron pointed out.

Tel Aviv has stepped up settlement expansion since December 2022, when Benjamin Netanyahu staged a comeback as prime minister at the head of a cabinet of hard-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

The international community views the settlements – hundreds of which have been built across the West Bank since Tel Aviv’s occupation of the territory in 1967 – as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on the occupied territories.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East al-Quds as its capital.

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The cabinet of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced plans to build more than 3,300 new settler units in the occupied West Bank.

No peace in West Asia without solution to Palestinian issue

The British foreign secretary further noted that West Asia will never enjoy “long-term peace or security” without “a solution to the Palestinian question.”

On the situation in Gaza, where the Israeli military onslaught has killed at least 34,535 Palestinians, Cameron expressed deep concern and sadness over the loss of lives.

“Obviously the whole situation in Gaza is deeply concerning and the loss of life deeply regrettable,” he said.

Regarding the resumption of funding to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Cameron said the United Kingdom awaits the results of ongoing investigations before making any decision.

In late January, the United Kingdom and other major donor parties, such as the US and European Union, pulled their funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency over claims that the UNRWA staffers were involved in Operation al-Aqsa Storm against Israel in October.

Human rights organization Freedom From Torture and Redress wrote to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on April 5 that the information “upon which the UK government acted, was obtained through torture.”

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The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says cooperation means Israel must allow UNRWA to reach northern Gaza.

The group called on the prime minister to ensure that "the UK takes no receipt of, and makes no use of intelligence provided by Israel or other authorities where there is a real risk that it has been obtained by torture or other ill-treatment.”

They called on Sunak "to publicly repudiate reliance on intelligence material and/or 'confessions' obtained using torture".

"We urge you to urgently call for independent monitors and lawyers to have access to Palestinians in Israeli detention facilities.”

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