France condemns Israel’s land grab law

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault yesterday condemned the so-called “Regularisation Law” passed by the Israeli Knesset on Monday night, which enables the expropriation of private Palestinian land.

The foreign minister said the law instils the existence of dozens of settlements and outposts, and provides a constitutional basis to develop them in the future.

Read: UN, UK, Turkey slam Israel’s settlement legalisation law

He described the law as another aggression against the two-state solution, noting that 75 countries and organisations stressed on 15 January in Paris that the two-state solution is the only solution that can bring a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

He said the law would increase tensions in the region and called on Israel to respect its international obligations, and reverse it.

Britain has also condemned the law. The Commonwealth Affairs minister for the Middle East and Africa, Tobias Ellwood said: “The bill paves the way for significant growth in settlements deep in the West Bank, threatening the viability of the two-state solution”.

Also read: ‘Two-state solution is dying,’ say Euro MPs

“I condemn the passing of the Land Regularisation Bill by the Knesset, which damages Israel’s standing with its international partners.”