France condemned today a decision by Israel to build over 2300 new housing units in the illegal West Bank settlements.

“These decisions come amid the troubling acceleration of settlement building on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem,” said  a French Foreign Ministry statement. “As stated in UN Security Council Resolution 2334, these settlements are contrary to international law. This policy further heightens tensions on the ground and gravely undermines the conditions for a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians based on a two-state solution.”

Reiterating what other European Union member states have said, France, said the statement, also takes note of the Israeli cabinet announcement of 715 building permits for Palestinian housing units in Area C of the occupied West Bank. “It reaffirms the considerable needs of the Palestinian population living in that area, even though the vast majority of building permit applications has not been approved in recent years, and the demolition of Palestinian homes – illegal under international law – steadily continues on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem,” it added.

“France calls on the Israeli authorities to abide by international law and to abandon any project that would ultimately jeopardize the two-state solution,” it concluded.