Jordan decries Israeli plan to build new settler homes

AMMAN

Jordan on Wednesday condemned Israel’s plan to build more than 2,000 new Jewish settlement homes in the occupied West Bank.

Israel's plan is "a unilateral and illegal step that undermines the chances of a two-state solution", Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Daifallah Al-Fayez said in a statement.

Al-Fayez urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to end its illegal activities that undermine peace efforts.

Earlier, Israel approved 2,166 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, according to TV7 Israel News.

Peace Now, a non-governmental Israeli movement, said more than 650,000 settlers are living in 266 illegal settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The approval of the new homes came after the UAE and Bahrain signed US-brokered normalization agreements with Israel on Sept. 15 at the White House, ignoring Palestinian rejection.

Israel, in return, pledged to suspend plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

Palestinians have decried the agreements as a betrayal of their struggle against decades-long Israeli occupation.

Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz