MADRID, 18 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The deputy spokesman for the United States Department of State, Vedant Patel, has shown his opposition to the recent announcement by the Israeli Finance Minister, the far-right Bezalel Smotrich, that he will allocate 670 million shekels (more than 163 million euros) to the settlements of the West Bank and outposts set up by settlers.
“Settlement expansion undermines the geographical viability of a two-state solution. It incites tensions and further undermines trust between the two sides. And we strongly oppose settlement advancement and urge Israel to refrain from this activity, including the promotion of outposts,” Patel said during a press conference.
Smotrich of the Religious Zionist Party denied the existence of the Palestinian people during a memorial service for the late author Jacques Kupfer in March, at which he appeared at a lectern holding a map of Greater Israel, which includes all of Jordan.
The West Bank — including East Jerusalem — and the Gaza Strip — from which Israel withdrew in 2005 — were militarily occupied by Israel in the 1967 war along with the Syrian Golan Heights.
In total, some 700,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank, some of them in colonies considered legal by Israel and some in settlements considered illegal even by the Israeli government. International Law considers the colonization of militarily occupied territories a war crime.
