This is an entry from: Live: Syria condemns Israeli attack on 'civilian vehicle', warns of rising regional tensions

GCC, Abu Dhabi-based Muslim Council of Elders condemn Israeli settlement plans

Abu Dhabi-based Muslim Council of Elders and Gulf Cooperation Council have condemned Israeli plans to build a so-called E1 settlement in the occupied West Bank and settlement activities east of occupied Jerusalem.

In a statement carried by Emirates News Agency, the Council said these settlement plans “constitute a flagrant violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions”.

“They also pose a serious threat to efforts aimed at achieving peace in the region and undermine the territorial contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly between the West Bank and Jerusalem, thereby jeopardizing the prospects for a viable, geographically contiguous, and independent Palestinian state,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said “advancing these plans represents a blatant challenge to international legitimacy and a systematic undermining of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people”.

"These practices by the Israeli occupation forces undermine the prospects of achieving peace and threaten international and regional efforts aimed at establishing an independent Palestinian state," he said.

Two of the six GCC members—UAE and Bahrain—officially normalised ties with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords.