By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA

Turkey on Friday denounced Israel’s approval of the construction of thousands of new settlements in the West Bank.

"We strongly condemn the approval by the Israel to build over 2,000 additional units in the West Bank, which is under Israeli occupation," said a Foreign Ministry statement.

"The actions taken in disregard of international law and relevant United Nations Resolutions irreparably damage the peace process," it added.

Roughly 600,000 Israelis currently live in more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem since Israel occupied the territories in 1967.

The Palestinians want these areas, along with the Gaza Strip, for a future state of Palestine.

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.