The White House has reversed its West Bank policy, calling Israeli settlements illegal, The Washington Post reported.

On Friday, the newspaper quoted a White House official as saying that the decision came in response to reports that the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was planning further settlement expansion.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had confirmed that Israeli settlement expansion “would be inconsistent with international law.”

“Our administration maintains its strict opposition to settlement expansion,” Blinken said in a press conference from Argentina on Friday. In our opinion, this weakens Israel’s security, not strengthens it.”

On Thursday, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to build 3,000 new settlement units, and said that these plans are part of “deepening our eternal grip on the entire Land of Israel.”

Source: Al Jazeera Mubasher + Washington Post