US slams Israel’s planned settlement expansion
The Biden administration is making public its formerly private objections to Israel's policies.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday that Washington opposes a plan by Israel’s government to expand settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
The Biden administration is “deeply concerned” about Israel’s move to advance plans for thousands of new settlement housing units, “many of them deep in the West Bank.”
Israel’s civil administration is set to meet Wednesday to review proposals to build an additional 3,100 housing units in existing settlements, as well as 1,300 new units in Palestinian towns under Israeli administration.
“We strongly oppose the expansion of settlements, which is completely inconsistent with efforts to lower tensions and to ensure calm. And it damages the prospects for a two-state solution,” Price told reporters in Washington, calling the expansions “unacceptable.”
