Israel’s announcement last week of its plan to add thousands of more homes to settlements located in the occupied West Bank resulted in a declaration of being “inconsistent” with international law by the Biden administration.
In a response to a question at a news conference in Buenos Aires, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that new settlements are “counter-productive to reaching an enduring peace” and are “inconsistent with international law”. This policy shift marks a return to the previous U.S. stance, that had been altered under the Trump administration. This policy shift comes as a surprise, as there had been no pronounced plans for Blinken to make the statement 24 hours beforehand. Israel’s plans to approve around 3,300 new homes within settlements come following a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank. This enabled US officials to make the abrupt shift in language, even though it was “a long time in the making”. This switch arose from previous attempts to shift the language but failed to get approval from senior administration officials. A prominent leader of one of Israel’s hard-right parties pledged to continue expansion with the announcement of approved plans for another settlement. The Palestinian foreign ministry chimed in, condemning the statement. Also underlying the fact that it hurt the chances of arriving at a two-state solution.
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