<modsnip: Quoted post was removed> ... I quoted from an official in American Government regarding a situation in the West Bank which is the catalyst for the deaths of many of the children who are born there.
He is looking at the bigger picture of what is going on in the region.
Snip
Washington, DC – The United States has renewed its opposition to Israeli settlement policies, saying that Washington was “extremely troubled” by an Israeli law that paves the way for
restoring illegal settlements in the north of the occupied West Bank.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters on Tuesday that the law, approved by the Knesset hours earlier, violates Israeli commitments to Washington against advancing settlements in the area.
“The legislative changes announced today are particularly provocative and counterproductive to efforts to restore some measures of calm as we
head into Ramadan, Passover and the Easter holidays,” Patel said.
He added that the US “strongly urges” Israel to refrain from returning settlers to the area, parts of which are privately owned by Palestinians.
The law, approved in a 31-18 vote in the early hours of Tuesday, reverses a 2005 Israeli measure that ordered the evacuation of four settlement outposts in the northern West Bank.
On Tuesday, Patel went on to broadly criticise Israeli settlement expansion. “This is something specifically we have been very clear about — that the growth of settlements and outposts is inconsistent with our views on what steps are necessary to get us to a negotiated two-state solution in a peaceful way,” he said during a news briefing.
Despite the strong words, Patel was pressed repeatedly by reporters about what the Biden administration is doing to sway Israel from advancing its settlement plans, and he failed to outline any measures beyond raising the issue with Israeli officials.
Israel, accused of imposing a system of apartheid by leading human rights organisations like
Amnesty International, receives at least $3.8bn of US aid annually.
“I’m not going to stand up here and offer a litany list of all the ways in which we can hold our Israeli partners accountable,” Patel said on Tuesday.
A White House statement describing a call between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday did not mention any US criticism of settlements. Instead, the White House said Biden “reiterated his unwavering commitment to Israel’s security” during the call.
“Our commitment to Israel’s security and Israel’s security concerns are ironclad,” Patel said on Tuesday. “But I will also note that we have — when we need to — very frank and honest conversations with our Israeli partners.”
Washington also denounces comments by Israeli minister claiming Palestinian people are ‘an invention’ of past century.
www.aljazeera.com
