'Robust' reply to Israeli settlement plan needed: McEntee

Ireland will demand a stronger international response to Israel's settlement plans, the Foreign Minister has warned following a tender for 1,200 housing units in the West Bank. Minister McEntee criticized the Israeli government for publishing the tender, which is part of the E1 settlement project. The incident comes amid a series of violent clashes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

A teenager was killed and an elderly man wounded in a shooting by a Jewish settler who had entered a Palestinian village without authorization. McEntee stated that the E1 project poses a fundamental threat to a contiguous Palestinian state and undermines the possibility of a two-state solution. She emphasized that all Israeli settlements in Palestine are illegal under international law and urged Israel to rescind the tender and end all illegal settlement activity.

McEntee warned of a dangerous pattern of violence by extremist settlers, which is terrorizing Palestinian communities. She called for accountability for these actions and urged Israel to remove restrictions on the finances of the Palestinian Authority and release withheld tax revenues. The Minister also urged Israel to address the growing restrictions on Palestinian daily life in the West Bank and called for the EU to respond decisively to actions that violate international law.