US ‘deeply troubled’ by latest Israeli settlement approvals

US State Department spokesman Matt Miller is asked during a press briefing for comment on Israel’s advancement of plans to build 5,700 new settlement homes in the West Bank.

Miller does not appear to have a new statement prepared on the latest development; instead, he says, “I will reiterate our longstanding position which we have said publicly from this podium. Privately, we say this directly to Israeli officials — that we believe that settlements are an impediment to a negotiated two-state solution along 1967 lines, which ultimately we believe is the best way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Pressed again for comment, Miller repeats the statement that his office issued last week when Israel announced that it would be making the settlement construction advancements.

Miller says the US is “deeply troubled” by the moves and “opposes such unilateral actions that make a two-state solution more difficult to achieve.”