Saudi Arabia condemns Israel’s plans for settlement expansion

Saudi Arabia has condemned Israel’s plan to build 2,070 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

This came during a meeting of the Saudi Council of Ministers, chaired by King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, held on Tuesday at Al-Safa Palace in the city of Makkah, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The Saudi cabinet condemned the Israeli authorities’ approval of the construction of new settlement units in the occupied territories.

The Council of Ministers declared this action to be a reflection of Israel’s ongoing aggression and violations of the Palestinian people’s rights, as well as defiance of the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy.

Late last  month the Palestinian Authority submitted a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) demanding Tel Aviv be held accountable for committing war crimes against the Palestinians as a result of its policy of settlement expansion.

Israeli settler expansion in the Palestinian occupied territories is one of the key obstacles to the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which stalled several years ago.

Israel court bans seizure of Palestinian land for settler use