The United States Department of State condemned Israel's decision to advance the construction of more than 4,000 housing units in Judea and Samaria.

State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, wrote in a statement that he published: "The US is deeply troubled by the Israeli government’s announcement of plans to advance over 4,000 new settlement units in the West Bank & the changes to its planning system that may expedite approvals. Settlement expansion is an obstacle to peace."

You should be troubled by Palestinian terrorism.

US: We are 'deeply troubled' by new Judea and Samaria construction https://t.co/y6e9muQufx דרך @ArutzSheva_En

— Israel Kicks A** (@Israelkicksass) June 19, 2023

Miller added: "As has been longstanding policy, the United States opposes such unilateral actions that make a two-state solution more difficult to achieve and are an obstacle to peace.  We call on the Government of Israel to fulfill the commitments it made in Aqaba, Jordan, and Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, and return to a dialogue aimed at de-escalation."

The announcement was made after Sunday’s publication of the agenda for the meeting of the Supreme Planning Council, which includes a construction boom in the settlements on a large scale of 4,560 units in Judea and Samaria. The published plans join the nearly ten thousand units to be constructed reported from the previous meeting of involved parties. The plans were coordinated and handled by the staff work of the planning office in the administration and the settlement administration in the office of the minister in the Ministry of Defense and the Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich. Plans have already been published for the construction of hundreds of units in Neve Tsuf, and Eli, hundreds of units in Givat Ze'ev, as well as in Beitar Elit, 340 units in Ma'ale Adumim, 381 in Rabba, 343 in Elkana, 287 in Adora and 196 in Telem.

🏗️“As promised, today we are advancing the construction of thousands more new units in Judea and Samaria.” said Israeli finance minister Smotrich.
𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 ⇣https://t.co/6XtySIXzJl

— Jewish News Syndicate (@JNS_org) June 19, 2023

It should be noted that part of the new construction agreement will include stripping security cabinet approval for new construction in the West Bank. The Minister of Finance and the Minister in the Ministry of Defense, Bezalel Smotrich, further stated that "residents of Judea and Samaria will cease to be second-class citizens and the natural development within existing settlements will be expressed in construction and expansion. I thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for their cooperation. I would also like to thank the staff of the Settlement Directorate at the Ministry of Defense and the Planning Office for their hard and precise work. We will continue to develop the settlement and strengthen the Israeli hold on the land."