LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Countries including Britain, Canada, Germany and others on Wednesday condemned the Israeli security cabinet's approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying they violated international law and risked fuelling instability.
"We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements," said a joint statement released by Britain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.
"We recall that such unilateral actions, as part of a wider intensification of the settlement policies in the West Bank, not only violate international law but also risk fuelling instability," the statement said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected the statement by foreign countries in an X post on Wednesday, saying the decision aimed to help address security threats faced by Israel.
"Foreign governments will not restrict the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel, and any such call is morally wrong and discriminatory against Jews," he said.
(Reporting by Muvija M; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Chris Reese)
