The Israeli operation comes days after Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, warned that its teams were seeing a “risk of ethnic cleansing” in the West Bank, with Palestinians facing “forced mass displacement” in the territory “by Israeli forces and settlers” amid a rise of violence against Palestinians in the area.
It further condemned the E1 settlement plan, calling it “one of the clearest recent attempts by the Israeli authorities to kill any prospect of a Palestinian future.” The plan has been widely criticized, including by Israeli rights groups, as being aimed at preventing a two-state solution and as risking fueling more conflict in the region.
In recent weeks, a number of countries have vowed to recognize Palestinian statehood, including France, Canada, Australia and Belgium. The United Kingdom has said it too would recognize Palestinian statehood this month unless Israel meets certain conditions.
Israel has in the past agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state, including under Netanyahu’s leadership. More recently, and particularly under the current government, that idea has been rejected.
