“They (settlements) also contradict international law. “Our government remains a strong opponent of settlement expansion, which we believe only weakens, not strengthens, Israel’s security,” he said.
In November 2019, thenUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Washington no longer viewed Israeli settlements in the West Bank which the country captured during the 1967 SixDay War as “contrary to international law.” , which reversed the North American position for four decades.
Months later, in January 2020, the Trump administration announced a peace plan for the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which was accepted by the Israelis and rejected by the Palestinians, in part because it gave Israel most of what it had during the conflict After decades of conflict, virtually all of the occupied land on which settlements were built was sought.
The American announcement comes after farright Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Cabinet members had agreed to draw up a plan to build around 3,300 homes in West Bank settlements following a gun attack by Palestinians in the city on Thursday.
Most of the units under discussion are in areas east of Jerusalem, with a few others south of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, Smotrich said.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli settlement announcement, saying on social media that the move undermines the chances of a twostate solution. Most countries view the settlements, which halve Palestinian communities in many places, as a violation of international law. Israel claims biblical land law.