Saudi slams new Israeli settlement building in W. Bank

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday condemned an Israeli decision to build hundreds of settlement units in the occupied West Bank.

Last week, Israel approved the construction of nearly 1,122 settlement homes in the occupied territory, in addition to floating tenders to build 651 units.

The building "is a defiance to the international community and flagrant aggression on the rights of the Palestinian people with a view to creating a new reality that prevents the establishment of an independent Palestinian state," Minister of Culture and Information Awad bin Saleh Al-Awad said in a statement cited by the official SPA news agency.

Last year, Israel approved the construction of 6,742 new settlement units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem -- the highest number since 2013, according to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now.

Some half a million Israelis currently live on more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built since Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. The Palestinians want these areas -- along with the Gaza Strip -- for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.

International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity on the land as illegal.