The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has expressed “deep concern and dismay” over Israel’s settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The UNSC presidential statement, approved by all 15 members of the council including the United States, also underscored the “obligation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to renounce and confront terror”.
The statement called on all parties to “observe calm and restraint, and to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric”. It also urged “full respect for international humanitarian law, including the protection of the civilian population”. The UNSC reiterated that continuing Israeli settlement activities are “dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution based on the 1967 lines”.
The symbolic measure came in response to a decision by the Israeli government earlier this month to authorise thousands of settlement units in the occupied West Bank and retroactively legalise unlawfully built settlement outposts. Reports by several US and Israeli news outlets, citing diplomatic sources, said the PA agreed to drop its pursuit of a draft resolution calling for an end to Israel’s settlement expansion amid pressure from the US government, including promises of a financial aid package.
The US envoy to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, voiced US opposition to Israel’s settlement activity but did not condemn the Israeli policy. “These unilateral measures exacerbate tensions; they harm trust between the parties,” she said. “They undermine the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution. The United States does not support these actions, full stop.”
France welcomed the adoption of the Security Council Presidential Statement on the Middle East, saying that both the Israeli and Palestinian people are entitled to freedom, security, prosperity, justice, and dignity. Human Rights Watch director Louis Charbonneau criticised the statement as “diluted under pressure from the US and #Israel”, calling for a full-throated condemnation of Israel’s human rights violations against Palestinians.
The Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, warned that the situation could soon “reach a point of no return”. He urged all parties to take action now and to use every word and decision wisely. Israel receives at least $3.8bn of US aid annually, despite being accused of imposing a system of apartheid by leading human rights organisations like Amnesty International.