Pakistan has condemned Israel’s nationalist-religious government plans to approve thousands of building permits in the occupied West Bank, despite US pressure to halt settlement expansion.

“Pakistan strongly condemns the Israeli expansion plan to build over 4500 new settlements inside Occupied West Bank,” PM Shehbaz tweeted on Tuesday.

The plans for approval of 4,560 housing units in various areas of the West Bank were included on the agenda of Israel’s Supreme Planning Council that meets next week, although only 1,332 are up for final approval, with the remainder still going through the preliminary clearance process.

“We will continue to develop the settlement of and strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory,” said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a defence portfolio that gives him a leading role in West Bank administration.

Pakistan does not recognise Israel as per its policy for a contiguous Palestinian state, with pre-1967 borders, and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. The country has maintained that it is lasting solution to the Palestinian question, in accordance with the relevant United Nations and OIC resolutions.

The country had further cleared its stance after the Abraham Accords under which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed agreements with Israel.

“This makes the universally-accepted goal of achieving two-state solution even more distant & sows the seeds of renewed & perpetual instability and violence,” PM Shehbaz said.

Most countries deem the settlements, built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as illegal. Their presence is one of the fundamental issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He added that such “unprovoked, illegal, and unethical” Israeli actions continue to undermine peace with no regard for international law, and the UN resolutions. “Pakistan is committed to supporting the Palestinians’ just struggle for an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as their capital. Peace talks that had been brokered by the United States have been frozen since 2014.

Since entering office in January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition has approved the promotion of more than 7,000 new housing units, most deep in the West Bank.

Four shot dead near West Bank settlement: Israeli medics

Four people were shot dead Tuesday near a settlement in the occupied West Bank, Israeli medics said.

“Four confirmed deceased by MDA paramedics” and four others were wounded in the shooting near Eli settlement, in the northern West Bank, the Magen David Adom emergency services said in a statement.

The attack took place a day after an hours-long gunbattle between Palestinian fighters and Israeli troops backed by helicopter gunships in Jenin, a major West Bank stronghold of armed Palestinian militant groups.

Six Palestinians were killed and more than 90 wounded and seven Israeli personnel were also wounded during one of the most intense clashes in the West Bank in months.

Far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a full-scale military operation in the West Bank and urged Jewish settlers in the area to carry a weapon.

(With input from agencies)