According to Blinken, the recent Israeli settlements in the West Bank are unlawful and in violation of international law

CHARLESTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has declared that the new Israeli settlements in the West Bank are unlawful and in violation of international law, contradicting a Trump administration stance. During a joint news conference in Buenos Aires with the Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, Blinken expressed his disappointment with Israel’s most recent plans to expand settlements.
“After reading the news, we must admit that we were let down by the announcement. In answer to a query, Blinken said, “It has long been US policy, under Republican and

Democratic administrations alike, that new settlements are counterproductive to reaching an enduring peace.”
“International law also contradicts them. Our government continues to firmly oppose the growth of settlements. And in our opinion, this just makes Israel’s security worse, not stronger,” said the senior US envoy, one day after Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hinted that over 3,000 additional homes will be built in settlements.

The announcement is the latest departure from former President Donald Trump’s pro-Israel policies by the Biden administration.
The US position was altered by the Trump administration, which said that settlements did not violate international law. Under President Trump, Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank “are not, per se, inconsistent with international law,” according to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019.
Washington, DC’s White House backed Blinken’s comments.

“After seeing such stories, we must admit that we were let down by the news. Republican and Democratic administrations alike have long maintained US doctrine that additional settlements are detrimental to the pursuit of peace. To be honest, they also don’t follow international law. Additionally, as a White House spokesperson, John Kirby informed reporters, “This administration continues to maintain our strong opposition to settlement expansion.”
According to the New York Times, in November 2019, while US policy was in place for forty years, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that settlements did not break international law, reversing decades of US policy.

“State Department lawyers never issued a new legal determination that buttressed that policy change and Mr. Blinken’s shift back to the old policy is consistent with a long-standing legal finding of the department,” the newspaper claimed.
“All we are doing is restating the basic finding that these settlements violate international law. This has been a stance that has been steady across several Republican and Democratic governments. Kirby told reporters, “If any administration has been inconsistent, it was the last one.

Blinken stated he had read about the post-war Gaza plan while in Buenos Aires.
“I want to hold off on making a decision until we see the specifics since I haven’t seen the plan. Having said that, as you are aware, we outlined a few fundamental ideas some months ago that we believe are crucial to Gaza’s future, one of which is that it cannot serve as a haven for terrorist activity,” the speaker said.
“Israel should not take over Gaza again. Gaza’s territory shouldn’t be cut down in size. Therefore, we want to ensure that any strategy that is developed adheres to those values. These are the three most crucial elements, albeit there are others,” Blinken said.

Simultaneously, other nations in the area are collaborating to develop a strategy for Gaza after the fighting. That’s very essential, in my opinion, and I’ve had some conversations about it with some of our Arab allies, including most recently on the fringes of the G20, about what we discussed at the Munich Security Conference. Thus, it’s critical that we have a required strategy, but we also need one that aligns with fundamental ideas about Gaza’s future that, I believe, many nations have in common,” said the Secretary of State.

The turnaround occurs as US-Israeli tensions over the Gaza War are rising, and the pressure is heightened by the most recent news on settlement expansion.
Hearings regarding the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation are also being held at the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations.