Israel OKs some 3,000 new settler homes, despite U.S. rebuke

Source: Associated Press

Israel OKs some 3,000 new settler homes, despite U.S. rebuke

By ILAN BEN ZION and LAURIE KELLMAN
October 27, 2021

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel approved about 3,000 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, a day after the United States issued its strongest rebuke yet of such construction. It was the biggest announcement of settlement plans during the Biden administration.

The plans were approved by a Defense Ministry committee, according to a security official who was not authorized to speak publicly and did not provide further details. The anti-settlement group Peace Now also confirmed the approvals.

The decision marked the latest boost for Israel’s half-century-old settlement enterprise on occupied lands the Palestinians seek for a state. Successive Israeli governments have expanded settlements, making an internationally backed two-state solution — a state of Palestine arising alongside Israel — increasingly impossible.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the international community to take a “decisive stance” on the Israeli decision, which he said amounted to a “message of disdain for the efforts of the U.S. administration.”

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-middle-east-jerusalem-israel-united-states-a6d7faba3f0fb6d40695729ec398dc21