(ZEROHEDGE) – After the Biden administration condemned newly unveiled Israeli plans to move forward on building some 3,000 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank earlier in the week, a dozen European countries followed the U.S. on Thursday and penned a scathing letter, also demanding the reversal of the controversial expansion.
Initially on Wednesday State Department spokesman Ned Price said "We are deeply concerned about the Israeli government’s plan to advance thousands of settlement units tomorrow, Wednesday, many of them deep in the West Bank." He added: "We strongly oppose the expansion of settlements, which is completely inconsistent with efforts to lower tensions and to ensure calm, and it damages the prospects for a two-state solution."
It comes amid strained ties between the White House and the United States' closest Middle East ally, particularly as Biden is seen as reneging on some key Trump policies, for example moving forward on plans to open a Jerusalem consulate to Palestinians, which Israel sees as 'illegal' given official US recognition of the city as Israel's capital (a key change by Trump).
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