Israel plans to build more than 3,300 new homes in West Bank settlements in response to a fatal Palestinian shooting, an Israeli minister said. The decision provoked an angry response from the United States at a time of rising tensions over the course of the war in Gaza.
Finance Minister and far-right firebrand Bezalel Smotrich announced the new settlement plans Thursday night after three Palestinians fired at cars near the Maale Adumim settlement, killing one Israeli and wounding five.
“The serious attack on Ma’ale Adumim must have a resolute security response but also a settlement response,” Smotrich wrote on social network X. “Our enemies know that any harm towards us will lead to more construction, more development and more control of us throughout the country.”
He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant participated in the discussion. The decision will set in motion approval processes for 300 new housing units in the Kedar settlement and 2,350 in Maale Adumim. It will also move forward with the previously approved construction of nearly 700 housing units in Efrat.
President Joe Biden’s administration seeks eventual Palestinian governance in Gaza and the West Bank as a precursor to the creation of a Palestinian state. But Netanyahu and his right-wing government oppose that plan.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was “disappointed” to learn of the Israeli announcement.
“It has been longstanding U.S. policy, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, that new settlements are counterproductive to achieving a lasting peace,” Blinken said from Buenos Aires. “They are also inconsistent with international law. Our administration maintains strong opposition to settlement expansion and, in our view, this only weakens, not strengthens, Israel’s security.”