Germany slams Israeli plans for hundreds of new housing units in West Bank

​​​​​​​By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - The German government on Saturday criticized Israel for approving the construction of more than 750 new housing units in the West Bank.

“The German government categorically rejects this approach. Over the course of 2025, almost 30,000 new settlement units were approved, which is a new high and therefore a cause for great concern,” an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement in Berlin.

“Settlement construction not only violates international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, but also hinders a negotiated two-state solution and an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, as demanded by the ICJ (International Court of Justice),” he added.

The two-state solution refers to an independent Palestinian state existing peacefully side by side with Israel, a prospect rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The spokesperson called on the Israeli government “to immediately halt settlement construction and strictly rejects both formal annexation and de facto annexation brought about by settlement expansion and other measures.”

“The German government will only recognize changes to the borders of June 4, 1967, if they have been agreed upon by the parties to the conflict,” he said.

On Wednesday, Israel approved the construction of 764 housing units in three settlements in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority responded by saying that this policy was aimed at “igniting the region.”

On Friday, the Israeli Cabinet also decided to push ahead with the legalization of 19 outposts in the West Bank. Settlers had built these smaller settlements of containers and houses without the Israeli government's permission.

Netanyahu's right-wing religious government is steadily pushing ahead with settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In 1967, Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other areas, where more than 700,000 Israeli settlers now live among some 3 million Palestinians.

The Palestinians claim these territories for their own state. The German government refers to these territories – as well as the Gaza Strip – as “occupied territories” and does not recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders that have not been agreed upon by the parties to the conflict.

In a landmark opinion last July, the ICJ declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.