2024-02-23 19:01:05
This content was published on 23 February 2024 – 20:01
By Simon Lewis and Humeyra Pamuk
(Reuters) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Israel’s expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank is inconsistent with international law, indicating a return to a long-standing US policy that was abandoned by the previous administration led by Donald Trump.
The Trump administration had supported Israel in 2019 in building settlements in the West Bank by abandoning the long-standing American position that it was “inconsistent with international law.”
Blinken stated during a press conference in Buenos Aires that Washington is disappointed by Israel’s announcement that it plans to build new housing units in the West Bank, saying that it is counterproductive to achieving lasting peace.
“It is also inconsistent with international law,” Blinken added. “Our administration maintains strict opposition to settlement expansion, and in our view this only undermines, does not enhance, Israel’s security.”
Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State under Trump, said in November 2019 that Washington no longer considered Israel’s settlements in the West Bank to be “inconsistent with international law,” ending a four-decade American policy.
The Palestinians and the international community consider the transfer of any country’s civilians to the occupied territories illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. Many countries denounced the announcement.
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