UN report: “Israel” approved/advanced plans for over 22,000 illegal settlements in three years
Occupied Territories (QNN) – The Israeli occupation authorities have advanced or approved plans for more than 22,000 illegal settlement units in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem since 2016, according to a U.N. report to the Security Council.
According to the report, circulated by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, “Israel” advanced or approved plans for 10,000 illegal settlement units only in 2019, while the number reached 6,800 during the last two year.
U.N Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the Council that in addition, “Israel” issued tenders for some 8,000 settlement units since December 2016, i.e. since the Security Council adopted a resolution condemning settlements in lands the Palestinians want for their future state. The resolution also declared that the settlements have “no legal validity.”
Mladenov and Guterres asserted that “those who continue to support the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state” must be concerned about the numbers, and that constructions and approvals “must cease immediately and completely.”
The Israeli illegal settlements have been increasing steadily since Donald Trump won the American elections in 2016 and gave the green light to the Israeli government to expand its settlements on Palestinian lands.
In December 2016, the US abstained on a Security Council Resolution that declared that Israeli settlements are illegal and deemed their continuing construction a “flagrant violation” of international law.”
In November 2019, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a reversal in American policy on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, arguing that they “are not, per se, inconsistent with international law.”
