RAMALLAH, Palestine 

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced on Friday an Israeli plan to build 7,000 settlement units in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, the ministry condemned in “the strongest terms the call of the extremist Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich to convene the so-called Supreme Planning Committee in order to approve the construction of 7,000 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank.”

The ministry said the implementation of the plan is considered “a dangerous and provocative escalation in the conflict arena, and a blatant challenge to international and American positions rejecting settlement and settlers’ attacks and abuse of Palestinian citizens.”

The ministry also pointed out that the plan "is a response to the US administration's decision to impose sanctions on a number of extremist settlers."

It called on the international community and the US administration to "exert real pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop this."

“The international failure to implement the relevant international legitimacy resolutions encourages the Israeli right to deepen settlement activity and sabotage international efforts to end the occupation and achieve peace,” the ministry added.

The Israeli Peace Now movement estimates that more than 700,000 settlers reside in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi