"The talks have not ended, but there is progress, which we will hear about when I arrive in Israel," Netanyahu said, commenting on discussions between Israel and the US administration over housing units' construction in Judea and Samaria before boarding the plane to fly back to Israel from his state visit to China.
On February 6, Israel’s parliament passed the law retroactively legalizing almost 4,000 Jewish housing units on about 2,000 acres of privately owned Palestinian land. According to the Resolution 2334 of the UN Security Council, adopted on December 23, 2016, Israel is to stop settlement activity in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, as these activities are violating international law, namely the Fouth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in the time of war.
The resolution was voted among 15 members of the UN Security council, 14 of which approved it. The United States abstained from the vote prompting criticism by Israeli authorities.
Netanyahu called the resolution an anti-Israel maneuver and claimed Israel would not comply with the conditions of the document.