The US administration strongly criticized Israel's plans to build more settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, in a step that further increases tension between the two countries.
Earlier, Washington confirmed that it would restore its consular services in East Jerusalem and condemned the Israeli decision to classify Palestinian human rights organizations as "terrorists."
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had a tense phone call with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Tuesday.
The Walla Hebrew website revealed that Blinken protested the approval of 3,000 new housing units in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The website indicated that three senior Israeli officials familiar with the matter reported the phone call. Gantz responded that he decreased the number of building plans as much as he could.
i24 website described the conversation as a strong response in which the Biden administration conveyed to the Israeli government its disapproval of the decision to establish new settlements.
The recent US position is considered the harshest against the settlements since the administration of former President Barack Obama backed Security Council Resolution 2234 on the illegality of these settlements under international legitimacy and their threat to the two-state solution.
Recent media leaks said US President Joe Biden was dissatisfied with Israel's announcement of building more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"We are deeply concerned about the Israeli government's plan to advance thousands of settlement units tomorrow, Wednesday, many of them deep in the West Bank,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told a press briefing on Tuesday.
Price announced Washington's strong opposition to expanding settlements, which is entirely inconsistent with efforts to lower tensions and ensure calm, saying the move damages the prospects for a two-state solution.
Washington was continuing to raise its views on the issue directly with senior Israeli officials, Price said.
He also reiterated the current US administration's criticism of Israel's designation of six Palestinian human rights organizations as "terrorists."
The US will "be engaging our Israeli partners for more information regarding the basis for these designations," Price said.
He noted that the Israeli government did not warn Washington that the Palestinian groups would be blacklisted.
"We believe respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, and a strong civil society are critically important to responsible and responsive governance," Price said.
Despite the US position, a spokesman for the Israeli military body responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories announced Wednesday that Israel had approved plans to build more than 3,000 settlement units in the occupied West Bank.
He said that the Civil Administration's planning committee approved the construction of 1,800 homes and advanced plans to build 1,344 additional units.
A senior Palestinian official told Reuters that the decision showed that Israel's new government, led by far-right politician Naftali Bennett, was "no less extreme" than the administration of the veteran leader he replaced, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel will send an envoy to Washington, DC, to explain its decision last week to designate six Palestinian non-governmental organizations as "terrorists," announced senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official Joshua Zarka.
Zarka said on Tuesday that the envoy would give US officials "all the details and to present them all the intelligence" during the visit in the coming days.
Among the groups are al-Haq, Defense of Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), Addameer, the Bisan Center, the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees.
The recent Israeli decision tests the relationship between the Biden administration and Bennett's government, which ended the 12-year-old alliance of Netanyahu, who enjoyed broad support from the administration of former President Donald Trump.
Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, allowed largely unrestricted settlement construction, cut funding to the Palestinians, and presented a vision of the Middle East aligned with Israel.
