A picture taken on January 20, 2021 shows the Israeli settlement of Pisgat Zeev (left), built in a suburb of the mostly Arab east Jerusalem, and the Palestinian Shuafat refugee camp (right) behind Israel's controversial separation wall. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

RAMALLAH - A senior Palestinian official condemned on Wednesday an Israeli decision to construct 2,572 new settlement units in the Palestinian territories.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the Palestinian presidency spokesman, said in a press statement that the "Israeli government is racing against the time to destroy what remains any possibility of the two-state solution."

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the Palestinian presidency spokesman, said in a press statement that the "Israeli government is racing against the time to destroy what remains any possibility of the two-state solution"

"Israel is insisting on putting further obstacles in the face of the new US administration, which would have its efforts to resume the suspended peace process," he added.

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Abu Rudeineh called on the new US administration to adopt an opposite position against the Israeli settlement activities in the Palestinian territories.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli public radio reported that the Israeli government agreed to build 2,572 new settlement units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Abu Rudeineh stressed that all Israeli settlement activities are violating the international law, as well as the international legitimacy resolutions, especially the resolution of 2334, which was adopted by the international community, including the United States. 

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