{"id":591804,"date":"2026-08-21T18:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T18:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/591804\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T18:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T18:12:14","slug":"idf-says-it-struck-suspects-in-israel-held-southern-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/591804\/","title":{"rendered":"IDF Says It Struck &#8216;Suspects&#8217; in Israel-held Southern Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">Belgium on Friday condemned Israel&#8217;s plans to advance construction in the E1 settlement area of the West Bank, saying the move threatens the prospects for a two-state solution and violates international law.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Norway, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Belgium said in a joint statement that Israel&#8217;s decision to issue tenders for construction in E1 is &#8220;unacceptable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">&#8220;The E1 settlement will compromise the prospects for a two-state solution by dividing the West Bank and undermining Palestinian territorial contiguity,&#8221; the countries said, adding that &#8220;Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal,&#8221; a position they said is upheld by the international community and reaffirmed by the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n<p><img data-chromatic=\"ignore\" title=\"A map of the E1 area.\" alt=\"A map of the E1 area.\" width=\"1496\" height=\"1618\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e1-map-eng-mob.png\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"x1mraiob xxymvpz xt7dq6l x193iq5w xh8yej3 x1huxd7x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><img data-chromatic=\"ignore\" title=\"A map of the E1 area.\" alt=\"A map of the E1 area.\" width=\"2372\" height=\"1852\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e1-map-eng-desk.png\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"x1mraiob xxymvpz xt7dq6l x193iq5w xh8yej3\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Close<\/p>\n<p>A map of the E1 area.<\/p>\n<p>A map of the E1 area.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">The countries also warned that the decision was particularly concerning amid &#8220;unprecedented levels of settler violence against civilians&#8221; and serious restrictions on the Palestinian economy in the West Bank.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">They urged Israel to immediately withdraw the construction plans and halt settlement expansion, warning that the measures would further distance the parties from peace and &#8220;continue to weaken Israel&#8217;s standing on the international stage.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">The statement also urged companies not to bid on the construction tenders, warning them of &#8220;legal and reputational consequences,&#8221; including the risk of becoming complicit in serious violations of international law.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Pr\u00e9vot said on X that Belgium had joined the countries that consider Israel&#8217;s decision &#8220;contrary to international law&#8221; and said it &#8220;jeopardizes the hope for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"tweet-body-module__lukedW__root\" lang=\"en\" dir=\"auto\">\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf1 (EN\/FR\/NL) Belgium joins the countries that find it unacceptable that the Israeli authorities have taken a decision contrary to international law, a decision that jeopardizes the hope for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.<br \/>\nThe settlements are illegal. Our government<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/prevotmaxime\/status\/2090745028037480510\" class=\"xa2wdgl xk50ysn\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Show more<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">&#8220;The settlements are illegal. Our government continues to oppose them and reaffirms the need to preserve the chances for a peaceful and lasting two-state solution,&#8221; Pr\u00e9vot said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Belgium on Friday condemned Israel&#8217;s plans to advance construction in the E1 settlement area of the West Bank,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[157718,49,54,51,86,1031,85,46,9152,58195,1513,43,77],"class_list":["post-591804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-2026-israel-iran-war","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-donald-trump","tag-hamas","tag-hezbollah","tag-idf","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-israel-u-s","tag-israel-elections-2026","tag-israel-gaza-war","tag-news","tag-west-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}