The Biden administration, in a significant policy shift from the Trump era, rebuked Israel's expansion of settlements in the West Bank, characterizing it as contrary to international law, during a statement on Friday.
During a press briefing in Buenos Aires, Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed the United States' disappointment with Israel's announcement of its intention to construct new housing in the occupied West Bank, deeming such actions counterproductive to achieving lasting peace and inconsistent with international legal norms.
Blinken emphasized the administration's firm stance against settlement expansion, asserting that such endeavors only serve to undermine, rather than bolster, Israel's security.
This statement marks a departure from the Trump administration's position, which in November 2019 declared that the United States no longer viewed Israel's settlements in the West Bank as violating international law, reversing decades of established US policy.
In subsequent months, the Trump administration unveiled a peace proposal for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which was welcomed by Israel but rejected by the Palestinians, primarily due to its favorable terms for Israel, including extensive territorial concessions.
While the Biden administration has consistently opposed the expansion of settlements, Friday's declaration represents the first explicit assertion by a US official that such activities run counter to international legal standards.
In addition to condemning settlement expansion, the administration has taken punitive measures against four Israeli individuals implicated in settler violence.
The international community largely considers Israeli settlements, which often disrupt Palestinian communities and impede their connectivity, as violations of international law. However, Israel maintains historical and religious claims to the land.
Palestinians and many international actors view the transfer of civilian populations to occupied territories as a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and UN Security Council resolutions.
The lack of progress toward Palestinian statehood since the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s can be attributed, in part, to obstacles such as expanding Israeli settlements.
The Biden administration's condemnation of settlement expansion coincided with Israel's approval of approximately 3,300 homes to be built in settlements, a decision prompted by a recent Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank.
The Palestinian foreign ministry criticized Israel's settlement plans, asserting that they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.
In response to inquiries about the timing of the policy shift, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby explained that the administration sought to reaffirm its commitment to a two-state solution and its view that settlements are inconsistent with international law.
Secretary Blinken also commented on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "day after" plan for the Gaza Strip, reiterating the US position that there should be no Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and that the size of Gaza's territory should not be diminished.
