Washington, US – The White House said Thursday it is “deeply dismayed” by Israeli plans for a major expansion of settlements in occupied Palestinian lands.
“We are deeply dismayed by the Israelis’ announcement,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. President Joe Biden’s administration maintains its “firm opposition to the settlement expansion,” she added.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council is considering a draft resolution that would demand Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory,” Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The 15-member council is likely to vote on Monday on the text, drafted by the United Arab Emirates in coordination with the Palestinians, diplomats told Reuters.
The text “reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law,” the Reuters reported.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already expressed deep concern over Israel’s decision to authorize nine Jewish settler outposts in the occupied West Bank and mass construction of new homes in established settlements.
The Security Council in December 2016 adopted a resolution demanding Israel stop building the settlements. During the vote on the resolution, the then US President Barack Obama’s administration abstained, a reversal of its practice to protect Israel from UN action.