Berlin: The German government has condemned Israel’s plans to construct thousands of new settlement housing units in the occupied West Bank, stressing that such actions hinder efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution.

According to Qatar News Agency, in a press statement issued Friday, the German Foreign Ministry stated that settlement construction violates international law and relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The statement highlighted that plans to build the E1 settlement and expand the Ma’ale Adumim settlement would further restrict the movement of Palestinian residents in the West Bank by effectively dividing the territory in two and isolating it from East Jerusalem.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, part of the far-right government, recently announced that a plan to build thousands of new settlement units in the West Bank would be implemented.

The United Nations continues to affirm that settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal and calls for their cessation, warning that they undermine the possibility of achieving a two-state solution.