The US administration has criticised a decision by Israel’s far-right government to advance plans for 5,700 new homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, branding it “an obstacle to peace”.
The move is part of an acceleration in settlement expansion by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government — in which ultranationalist settlers hold crucial roles — and brings the total of new housing units advanced this year to more than 13,000, almost triple last year’s figure.
The international community regards the settlements in the West Bank — territory Palestinians seek as the heart of a future state but that Israel has occupied since 1967 — as illegal, and a US state department spokesman said the US was “deeply troubled” by the news.
“The United States opposes such unilateral
actions that make a two-state solution more difficult to achieve,” the spokesman added.
https://www.ft.com/content/5e9b14d0-ff1b-429a-823b-e0daf5cdea72