JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- The United States said Tuesday it was concerned by Israel's decision to sanction three settler outposts in the West Bank, as world powers warned of the negative impact on the peace process with Palestinians.
An Israeli governmental committee earlier authorized the three outposts -- Bruchin, Sansana and Rechelim -- which were built on land Israel declared "state-owned" in the West Bank, an area it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and which Palestinians want as part of a future state.
"We don't think this is helpful to the process. We don't accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
British Foreign Minister William Hague warned the move "sets a dangerous precedent for other outposts, which are illegal under both international and Israeli law."
"By seeking to entrench illegal settlements in the West Bank, as this decision does, the Israeli government risks sending the message that it is not serious about its stated commitment to the goal of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
France's Consulate in Jerusalem said the move "legalized three new settlements in the West Bank ... (which) sends a very negative signal, contrary to the interests of peace in the region."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said earlier he was "deeply-troubled" by the decision, adding that it "runs contrary to Israel's obligations under the Road Map and repeated Quartet calls for the parties to refrain from provocations."
'Time for sanctions'
Peace talks have stalled since September 2010 when the Israeli government refused to renew a partial settlement freeze, implemented at the US' behest.
Palestinian leaders, who insist they cannot negotiate while Israel builds on land required for a viable Palestinian state, delivered a letter to Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu last week outlining their position, and are awaiting a response.
Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said Tuesday that the settler outpost sanction was a response to President Mahmoud Abbas' letter.
"As such, this sends a clear message to both the international community and to the Palestinians that Israel is more committed to land theft than peacemaking," she said.
"It is time that the Quartet and international community go beyond statements and verbal condemnations and take concrete steps to curb Israel’s violation’s, including legal political and economic sanctions," the PLO official added.
'Not Swiss cheese'
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support on Tuesday for the first time for Palestinians to establish a contiguous state, saying their future country should not look like "Swiss cheese".
Asked on CNN's Erin Burnett Outfront program whether he would accept the Palestinians' belief they should have a country that is contiguous, Netanyahu replied: "Yes."
"Not as a Swiss cheese? No," Netanyahu added, speaking to a key Palestinian concern, that the state they seek would be comprised of pockets of villages and towns surrounded by Israeli settlements.
Netanyahu previously has said Israel would be "generous about the size" of a future Palestinian state, but he has not echoed US President Barack Obama's call for a contiguous country to emerge from Middle East peace talks.
All Jewish settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. Israel distinguishes between settlements it has approved and outposts which were never granted official authorization.
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