U.S. Says Israel's New Settlements in West Bank 'Inconsistent' with International Law
Editor
24 February 2024 12:31 WIB
'FUNDAMENTAL CONCLUSION'
The move comes a day after Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other ministers had agreed to convene a planning council to approve some 3,300 homes to be built in settlements, following a deadly Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank on Thursday.
Most of the units under discussion are in West Bank areas east of Jerusalem, with others south of the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, Smotrich said on Thursday.
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the Israeli settlement announcement, saying on social media that it undermined the chances of a two-state solution.
In a briefing with reporters, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the administration was "simply reaffirming the fundamental conclusion on the issue."
Kirby was asked why the administration waited three years to make this change. "We thought that at this moment, it was particularly important to reaffirm our commitment to a two-state solution," he responded. "And at this moment, we felt it was particularly important to reaffirm again our view of the inconsistency with international law that the settlements present."
This position, he added, has been consistent over a range of Republican and Democratic administrations, and if there was an administration that was inconsistent on the issue, it was the previous one.
At the news conference, Blinken was also asked about Netanyahu's "day after" plan for the Gaza Strip, which envisions Israel keeping security control over all land west of Jordan, including the occupied West Bank and Gaza -- territories where Palestinians hope to establish an independent state.
Blinken said he had yet to see the plan's details, but reiterated U.S. position on what a post-war Gaza should look like, some of which clashes with Netanyahu's vision.
"There should be no Israeli reoccupation of Gaza. The size of Gaza's territory should not be reduced. So we want to make sure that any plan that emerges is consistent with those principles," Blinken said.
REUTERS
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