France on Thursday urged Israel to reconsider the approval of more than 2,000 settler homes in Judea and Samaria recently issued by the Israeli government, saying the construction would violate international law.
Israel's National Planning and Building Committee approved 2,191 new housing units in Israeli settlements on Dec. 25 and 26, though no building permits have been issued yet.
"France condemns this decision, which expands settlement activity in the West Bank," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The settlements, the statement asserted, undermine the conditions for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "the only way to ensure a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians."
The statement further alleged that continued Israeli settlement construction "heightens tensions" and called on the Israeli authorities to reconsider the decision.
Some 600,000 Israelis live in Judea and Samaria and east Jerusalem, areas that are also home to more than 2.8 million Palestinians.
Settlements are one of the thorniest issues in efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, frozen since 2014.
Most countries consider the Israeli settlement enterprise to be illegal. Israel disputes this and says their future should be determined in peace talks with the Palestinians.
