Egypt said it is “highly concerned” following a decision by Israel to build new illegal settlement homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a Wednesday foreign affairs ministry statement read.

“[The decision] undermines efforts to resume the [Palestinian-Israeli] peace process,” the statement added.

On Monday, Israel said it had approved 560 new settler homes for the occupied West Bank in the illegal settlement of Maale Adumim.

Media reports also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin also gave approval for the planning of 240 new homes in East Jerusalem settlement neighbourhoods, as well as for 600 units for Palestinians in the city's Beit Safafa district, AFP reported.

Egypt’s foreign affairs ministry also said it “condemns the Israeli government’s continual expansion of illegal settlement housing on occupied Palestinian land.”

The timing of this “escalation,” according to the statement, is “unjustified as it coincides with regional and international efforts to encourage Palestinians and Israeli’s to build trust,” and resume peace talks.

The statement called on Israel to cancel the illegal settlements decision and to put an end to its policy of “escalation” and the killing of hope for the Palestinian people.

Egypt has been a strong advocate of the right of Palestinians to establish an independent state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

France held an international conference in June, where neither Israelis nor Palestinians were invited, that aimed to reinitiate peace talks and lay the groundwork for a full-fledged peace conference to be held by the end of the year

Palestinians have welcomed the French initiative but Israeli officials have said an international conference would not work, and that only direct talks between the two sides can bring peace.