In an policy shift from the open support of West Bank settlements from ex-President Trump, the US has voiced on Tuesday deep concerns and strong opposition toward Tel Aviv’s push to expand settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as Israeli government tender for 1,300 new homes and is expected to greenlight a further 3,000, The Hill reports.
The illegal settlements in the West Bank house around 475,000 Israeli Jews.
Stressing that the move undermines the peace efforts and makes even bleaker the prospects of ever reaching a two-state solution, the US Department of State condemned Tel Aviv’s push to expand its settlement program, which is completely inconsistent with efforts to lower tensions.
State Department spokesman Ned Price justified the more blunt language as being a reflection of the seriousness of the issue though his statement is a serious uptick in tough rhetoric towards Israel on an issue with a potential to raise the risk of conflict and is central to Palestinian national aspirations.
The US also considers unacceptable Israeli plans for the retroactive legalization of the so called “wildcat” outposts, illegal, independently set small Israeli tent communities or settlements built without formal authorization from the government that can now gain recognition and state support.
According to the Israeli settlement watchdog group Peace Now, it’s expected the Civil Administration’s planning committee – Israeli government council – to approve on Wednesday plans for nearly 3,000 units in West Bank settlements and to announce plans for at least 1,600 units for Palestinians next month.
If the plan – that Israel’s right-wing Housing Minister, Zeev Elkin, called essential to the Zionist vision of strengthening Jewish presence in the West Bank – is approved, it would be the first new settlement units Israel greenlit under the new post-Netanyahu Israeli government and during Biden’s administration.
Washington now faces calls to “confront” Tel Aviv on its settlement expansion by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and the supporters of a Palestinian state in the West Bank claiming that the Israeli settlements’ expansion eats up territory for a future nation and infringes on the rights of Palestinians.
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