PARIS, June 9, 2012 (WAFA) – France condemned an Israeli decision to build hundreds of new housing units in illegal West Bank settlements, describing the decision as provocative, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said Thursday.

“We condemn the announcements made yesterday by the Israeli prime minister and minister for housing relating to the construction of several hundred new homes in the settlements of the West Bank, some of them located far from the 1967 lines, at a time when it's essential, above all, to avoid provocations and to renew the dialogue between the parties,” he said.

“We urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from implementing these announcements. We reaffirm that settlement activity is illegal under international law, undermines, on the ground, the foundations of the two-State solution and constitutes an obstacle to peace,” he said.

M.S.