Twelve European states call on Israel to halt plan for 3,000 West Bank settler homes

A group of 12 European countries on Thursday urged Israel to scrap plans for the construction of more than 3,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank.

A day after the US criticised the plan, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden said in a joint statement that Israel should "immediately" reverse its decision to build the settlements.