The United Arab Emirates joined seven Arab and Islamic countries on in backing potential international sanctions against individuals and entities involved in Israel’s E1 settlement project in the West Bank.
Foreign ministers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan called for Israel to immediately halt settlement activity, with particular emphasis on the E1 project, The National and Gulf News reported.
These eight countries said they would support international measures and sanctions against individuals or entities involved in facilitating, implementing or supporting settlement expansion and annexation policies.
The UAE’s participation places a country that established diplomatic relations with Israel through the 2020 Abraham Accords alongside other regional governments threatening punitive measures over Israeli policy. Relations between Israel and the UAE have included extensive economic and technological cooperation as well as shared regional security concerns, particularly regarding Iran.
E1, or East 1, calls for thousands of housing units on a 12-square-kilometer, or 4.6-square-mile, area between Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement.
Opponents of the project argue that construction there would divide the West Bank and prevent the establishment of a geographically connected Palestinian state. International leaders opposing E1 have consequently described the project as a threat to the two-state solution.
The Arab and Islamic statement came alongside separate pressure from Western governments over the planned construction.
Leaders from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada issued their own warning to companies considering involvement in E1 construction tenders. The governments cautioned businesses that participating in or bidding for work connected to the project could expose them to legal and reputational consequences, The National reported.
Several European countries and the UK have also pursued separate targeted sanctions against extremist settlers or individuals linked to illegal settlement expansion.