The US expressed that it was "deeply concerned" by the government's plans to build hundreds of new housing units in the West Bank settlements of Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel, Kiryat Seferm, and Gush Ezion, the Associated Press reported Monday.
The US embassy in Tel Aviv issued a statement saying "We're deeply concerned by continuing Israeli actions on settlements in the West Bank."
The Associate Press report said that the US saw "these settlements as illegitimate and as running counter to efforts to resume direct negotiations."
The Israeli decision to build 400 new homes in the settlement bloc comes after Sunday's terrorist attack in the Itamar settlement in which five family members were stabbed to death in their home.
The UN special coordinator Robert Serry Sunday also said he was "concerned" by Netanyahu's announcement, saying increased building was not "conducive to efforts to renew negotiations and achieve a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace."