UK Condemns Israeli Tender for Settlement Project in West BankWest Bank, 20 Aug 2026 (ONA) — The United Kingdom has condemned Israel’s announcement of a tender for a settlement project in the “E1” area of the West Bank, describing the move as “unacceptable and destructive” to the prospects for achieving peace and the two-state solution.According to British media reports, the UK Foreign Office summoned the Israeli Chargé d’Affaires and conveyed its strong rejection of the “E1” project and the steps taken by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding an immediate reversal and emphasising that the project constitutes a destructive and unacceptable step that impedes the path to stability.The Foreign Office stated that settlement projects in this specific area would effectively sever the northern West Bank from the southern part, threatening the viability of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state.In a separate development, three Palestinians were injured after being assaulted, and Israeli occupation forces arrested ten others during a raid on the city of Nablus, the towns of Salem (east) and Bazzariya, and the villages of Madama and Einabus in the Nablus governorate.Sources in the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that their crews treated three Palestinians for injuries sustained from beatings during the incursion into the city, and they were transferred to hospital for medical care, according to the Palestinian News Agency WAFA today.Separately, Israeli settlers moved mobile homes to the outpost established on Mount Tarousa, west of Dura, south of Hebron, while occupation forces demolished a house and a well in Khirbet al-Furn, south of Hebron.In a related context, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong today expressed her profound dismay over Israel’s decision to close the investigation into the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues in Gaza.This follows the Israeli occupation army’s announcement that it had closed the investigation, which exonerated its soldiers of any criminal wrongdoing in the case, stating that it concluded that “there were serious failures that led soldiers to mistakenly identify a Hamas operative within the convoy, but it did not raise a reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct.”Wong stated that the Australian government still has unanswered questions regarding the Israeli airstrikes that killed Zomi Frankcom, and questioned why subsequent strikes continued if the initial strikes had been a “catastrophic error.”The Australian Foreign Minister affirmed that these strikes constituted a violation of the Israeli occupation army’s standard operating procedures and rules of engagement, saying, “We have yet to receive a convincing explanation as to why the strike occurred in a humanitarian monitoring zone, and after senior command had issued directives to the brigade commander not to engage the convoy.”Australian national Zomi Frankcom was among a group of seven people who lost their lives when an Israeli airstrike in April 2024 targeted a convoy belonging to the World Central Kitchen organisation, in one of whose vehicles they were travelling.— Ends/AH