OIC slams Israeli plans to build new settlements

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned Israeli plans to build more than 2,100 settlement units across the occupied West Bank.

“The Israeli settlement policy is illegal under international law and is a brazen violation of UN resolutions and aggression on rights of the Palestinian people,” the OIC said in a statement on Sunday.

The umbrella group called on the international community “to take decisive measures to put an end to the Israeli settlement policy, which risks undermining the two-state solution”.

On Tuesday, Israel announced plans to build 2,100 new settlement homes in the West Bank.

According to Palestinian figures, more than 700,000 Jewish settlers now live on 196 settlements (built with the Israeli government’s approval) and more than 200 settler outposts (built without its approval) across the occupied West Bank.

International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity on the land to be illegal.

Israel’s continued policy of unbridled settlement building is seen as the main obstacle to resuming Palestine-Israel peace talks, which broke down in 2014.