from the Washington Post
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a reversal of the Trump administration’s position on Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Friday, saying they are “inconsistent with international law.”
“Our administration maintains firm opposition to settlement expansion,” Blinken told reporters at a news conference in Argentina. “In our judgment, this only weakens — it doesn’t strengthen — Israel’s security.”
The decision — which was also announced at the White House — was in immediate response to reports that the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was planning further settlement expansion, according to a U.S. official, one of several who discussed the decision on the condition of anonymity under administration rules.
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans late Thursday for approval of 3,000 new settlement homes after Israeli police said Palestinian gunmen opened fire near the existing Maale Adumim settlement, killing one Israeli and wounding five. The expansion plans, he said, were part of “deepening our eternal grip on the entire Land of Israel.”..
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