British Foreign Office Minister Henry Bellingham condemned the Israeli decision to build new housing units in Ariel settlement, in a statement issued on Tuesday. “I condemn the decision of the Israeli Government to build 277 housing units in the illegal West Bank settlement of Ariel, 16 kilometres inside the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” said Bellingham. He added, “Israel has again ignored the calls of the international community to refrain from actions which make a return to negotiations more difficult. These repeated actions, illegal under international law, undermine confidence and threaten a two state solution.”