U.S. urges Israel to reverse planned West Bank land appropriation

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The United States sees Israel?s an**uncement on Sunday of a land appropriation for possible settlement construction in the occupied West Bank as ?counterproductive? to peace efforts and urges the Israeli government to reverse the decision, a State Department official said. Israel laid claim to nearly a thousand acres (400 hectares) in the Etzion settlement bloc near Bethlehem, a move which an anti-settlement group termed the biggest appropriation in 30 years and a Palestinian official said would cause only more friction after the Gaza war. ?We have long made clear our opposition to continued settlement activity,? the U.S. ? This an**uncement, like every other settlement an**uncement Israel makes, planning step they approve and construction tender they issue is counterproductive to Israel's stated goal of a negotiated two-state solution with the Palestinians.? ?We urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision,? the official said in Washington.

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