Germany criticizes Israeli plans to build settler homes in West Bank

The German Foreign Office on Wednesday criticized Israel's plans to build thousands of homes for Israeli settlers in the West Bank, saying it was counterproductive to finding a two-state solution.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said the plans were "contrary to the goal of negotiating a two-state solution" and that the German government opposed any measures that would endanger such a solution.

The Israeli cabinet unanimously approved 700 units for Palestinians and 6,000 for Israelis in Area C of the West Bank at the end of July.

Israeli approval of Palestinian homes is unusual in Area C, which includes most of Israel's West Bank settlements and is under Israeli control. Palestinians had criticized the move, saying they do not need permission from Israel to build in the West Bank.

The spokesman said the German Foreign Office had taken note of the plans to also build Palestinian homes, but that "handing out permissions for Palestinian construction projects in this area should always be done in agreement with Palestinian authorities and independently from the expansion of settlements."

Israel conquered the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, part of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War.

More than 600,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians want these areas for their own state of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital.