![A picture taken on October 14, 2020 shows Israeli construction cranes at a building site of new housing units in the Jewish settlement of Kochav Yaakov, near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank [AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-1229061380-scaled-e1635782598348.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Turkey, on Thursday, condemned Israel’s approval of new plans to construct over 3,500 additional illegal settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem, Anadolu News Agency reports.
“The settlements built by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories contravene international law, including UN resolutions,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“These new illegitimate acts are aimed at rendering a contiguous State of Palestine physically impossible, while also seriously damages the vision of a two-state solution and the ground for lasting peace,” said the Ministry.
The statement came after the approval of five settlement plans containing 3,557 new settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem by a local Israeli planning committee.
Israel has, in recent years, intensified its settlement activities in East Jerusalem.
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is regarded as occupied territory under international law, making all Jewish settlements there illegal.
READ: Israeli tanks fire warning shots across Syrian border in Golan Heights