Egypt Condemns Israel's Approval to Build 5,288 Settler Homes in West Bank

On Saturday, Egypt condemned Israel’s advancement and approval this week of plans for 5,288 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, according to the Egyptian foreign minister's spokesman Ahmed Hafez.

In a statement, Hafez said stressed that the Israeli settlement expansion plan constitutes a blatant violation to the international legitimacy and Security Council resolutions.

He added that the Israeli policies exacerbate the lack of confidence crisis between the concerned parties of the two countries and undermine opportunities of launching a constructive dialogue with the Palestinian side, noting that the Israeli approval to build new settler homes is a serious threat to the two-state solution.

Hafez also called for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 which demands that Israel return to the pre-1967 lines.

Notably, the Israeli Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria held its first meeting in eight months on Wednesday and Thursday, during which it approved and advanced plans for the construction of 5,288 homes, bringing the annual total of such plans to 9,333.

The approvals took place on the sidelines of Israel’s historic Knesset vote on Thursday, by which it overwhelmingly approved a peace deal with the United Arab Emirates. It is only the third such deal that exists, following the Egyptian one made in 1979 and the Jordanian one in 1994.

The Israeli decision came less than a month after Israel agreed to suspend plans to annex chunks of the West Bank as part of efforts to normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

In January, Trump unveiled his controversial Middle East peace plan, which gave Washington’s blessing to Israel’s plans to annex swathes of the West Bank, including the settlements — communities considered illegal under international law.

“We urge the international community to intervene immediately to stop this settlement madness, which destroys any chance for a genuine peace process,” said Nabil Abu Rdeneh a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.