UK-Israel
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband Friday warned Israel against plans to expand an illegal settlement in the occupied Jordan Valley, after the Zionist regime defied a call from Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

"I was dismayed to learn of plans for new settlement construction in the Jordan Valley. These are clearly outside Israel's Roadmap and Annapolis commitments," Miliband said.

"As the prime minister spelt out clearly during his recent visit to the region, settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories represents a real obstacle to peace," he said.

"I urge Israel not to approve these plans. We have made our views clear directly to the Israeli government," the British minister said in a statement.

On Monday, Brown in a speech to the Israeli Knesset urged the Zionist regime to not only freeze but to withdraw from all its illegal settlements.

"We want to see a freeze on settlements. Settlement expansion has made peace harder to achieve. It erodes trust, it heightens Palestinian suffering," he said.

The British premier also warned that "it makes the compromises Israel will need to make for peace more difficult. So we are very clear - not just Britain but the whole of the European Union - what should be done."
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also expressed his "deeply concerned" about Israel's latest illegal plans and urged the Zionist regime to "heed the call of the Quartet to freeze all settlement activity," saying he said was contrary to international law.

In a report on the occupied territories on Wednesday, Britain's International Development Committee expressed fears that economic projects in the Jordan valley proposed by Quartet envoy Tony Blair may be used to legitimize Israel's occupation.

"West Bank occupation must not be legitimized. There is a danger of creating two parallel universes in the West Bank, with a series of Palestinian enclaves served by separate road and entry systems alongside Israel's own network," committee chair Malcolm Bruce warned.