Israeli plans to expand settlements in the West Bank have drawn rebuke from President Joe Biden’s administration, who have called the plans “counterproductive” to efforts at a peaceful settlement of the long-running conflict in the region.
The West Bank has been the site of ongoing violence between the territory’s Palestinian Arab majority and Israeli settlers increasingly building settlements within the territory. A trio of attackers opened fire on motorists in the Israeli settlement community of Ma’ale Adimum on Thursday, killing one and injuring eight others.
Responding to the Thursday shooting, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowed Israel will continue to build settlements in the West Bank….
