Egypt's Foreign Ministry condemned on Tuesday the Israeli government approval for building 800 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank.
"It is a new violation of international legitimacy decisions," Ahmed Hafez, spokesperson of the ministry said.
The statement expressed "grave concern about the repercussions of these repeated steps on undermining the chances of a two-state solution at a time when various international parties are making unremitting efforts to revive the negotiation track between the Palestinians and the Israelis.”
Hafez added that "such practices will result in negative repercussions on the security and stability of the region."
The Israeli announcement comes one week before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. The settlement policy might cause a conflict with the new president, who supports the two-state solution and ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
However, US President Donald Trump showed unprecedented support to Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu and his policies.
Israeli and Palestinian diplomats are closely watching whether Biden will bring back the pre-Trump US policies.
