The U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the latest language was unusually strong but reflected a change in tone rather than any major shift in U.S. policy.
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USA -negotiated peace talks collapsed over two years ago, in part over the issue of settlements.
The Civil Administration’s High Planning Committee on Wednesday went on to approve the development of 234 housing units for the elderly in Elkana Jewish settlement, south of Nablus city.
Haaretz says it also retroactively approved 178 housing units in Beit Ariyeh that had been built illegally in the 1980s.
“These policies have effectively given the Israeli government’s green light for the pervasive advancement of settlement activity in a new and potentially unlimited way”, Kirby warned.
Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem, home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians, from Jordan in the 1967 war.
“Jews have been in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria for thousands of years, and their presence there is not an obstacle to peace”, the statement said, referring to the biblical names for the West Bank. The settlements are considered illegal under worldwide law, though Israel disputes this.
A special United Nations envoy condemned Israel for continuing to build in West Bank settlements and neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem. Some 1,000 settlers, protected by Israeli troops, live among 230,000 Palestinians in Hebron and the area is a frequent flashpoint of violence.
“This significant expansion of the settlement enterprise poses a very serious and growing threat to the viability of the two-state solution”, he added, implying Israel could torpedo peace hopes.
At least 236 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces in the tensions since the beginning of last October.
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An additional 50 housing units were approved in the West Bank settlements of Beit Aryeh and Givat Ze’ev, the paper reported.
