France condemns new settlement plans in West Bank

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS (AA) - France on Thursday condemned Israeli authorities' recent decision to build a large number of new housing units in the West Bank settlements.

The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that France condemned the decisions taken by the Israeli authorities "to allow the construction of more than 1,100 homes in 20 different settlements in the West Bank, and particularly that of seven structures in Nativ Haavot [a West Bank settler outpost] partly on private Palestinian land against the decision of the High Court of Justice, which had ordered its evacuation by March 2018.”

The ministry reminded that "colonization" -- as it is referred to in UN Security Council Resolution 2334 -- was illegal under international law.

"It hinders the search for a just and lasting peace and impedes the two-state solution, living side by side in peace and security," read the statement, adding, "it also contributes to the fueling of the tensions on the ground."

It said France's priority was to work to preserve the two-state solution and to contribute to the resumption of decisive negotiations.

France also urged Israeli authorities "for the cessation of colonization in order to preserve a credible political horizon".

The Israeli authorities earlier on Thursday approved the construction of hundreds of new housing units for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli media reports.

"The plans that were approved involve construction of more than 200 homes in [the settlement of] Oranit and more than 50 in [the settlement of] Petzael in the Jordan Valley," Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

According to the newspaper, additional housing units were approved in the Ariel and Alfei Menashe settlements, both of which are located in the northern West Bank.

Haaretz went on to note that the Israeli authorities had also approved plans for "hundreds" of additional housing units in the West Bank settlements of Kfar Adumim and Givat Zeev.

According to Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now, the Israeli authorities approved the construction of 6,742 new settlement units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 2017 -- the highest number since 2013.

Roughly 500,000 Israelis currently live in more than 100 Jewish-only settlements that have been built since Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.

The Palestinians want these areas -- along with the Gaza Strip -- for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.

International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity on the land as illegal.