JERUSALEM (AP) — The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv says it is “deeply concerned” by Israeli plans to build hundreds of new homes in West Bank settlements.
The embassy said in a statement: “We’re deeply concerned by continuing Israeli actions on settlements in the West Bank.”
Monday’s statement also says the United States views “these settlements as illegitimate and as running counter to efforts to resume direct negotiations.”
Israel announced the plan on Sunday as a response to a deadly attack in a West Bank settlement over the weekend that killed five members of a family, including an infant and two children. Palestinian militants are presumed responsible.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “They murder, we build.”
