JABAR EKSPRES – Jordan on Sunday (6/18) slammed Israel’s decision to accelerate the pace of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.

On Sunday, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu passed a resolution giving full control for the approval of settlement construction plans in the West Bank to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The Israeli government also announced a new tender for the construction of about 4,500 housing units in existing settlements in the West Bank.

“The practice, force of occupation, especially the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements, with land confiscation and displacement of Palestinians is illegal, rejected and condemned,” Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Sinan Majali said in a statement.

He urged the international community to “act immediately to stop Israel’s unilateral steps.”

The United Nations considers Israeli settlement activity to be illegal and undermines the idea of an internationally agreed two-state solution.

There are an estimated 700,000 settlers living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank.

Under international law, all Jewish settlers in the occupied territories are considered illegal.