The United States strongly opposes Israel's plans to build new settlement units
The United States has expressed strong opposition to Israel's plans to move forward with building more settlement units in the occupied West Bank, saying these moves "contradict efforts to reduce tension" and harm prospects for the two-state solution advocated by Washington.
"We are deeply concerned about the Israeli government's plan to move forward Wednesday with (plans to build) thousands of settlement units, many of them deep in the West Bank," State Department spokesman Ned Price told a news briefing.
"We strongly oppose settlement expansion, which is totally inconsistent with efforts to reduce tension and ensure calm, and is detrimental to the prospects for a two-state solution," Price added.
On Sunday, Israel published tenders for the construction of about 1,300 new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, and authorities are also expected to discuss proposals to build another 3,000 homes.
The new units are to be built on land the Palestinians want for their future state.
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