UN Security Council urged to stop Israeli settlements

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA

United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk on Friday called on UN Security Council and UN General Assembly to stop illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Lynk urged "effective diplomatic and political measures to ensure Israeli compliance with Security Council resolution 2334, which affirms that all Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory constitute a flagrant violation of international law".

Israeli authorities on Tuesday night approved the construction of 3,000 new units in the West Bank after approving last week construction of 3,066 Jewish homes in East Jerusalem and West Bank.

"Continued settlement activity poses a grave threat to Palestinians’ right to self-determination," the Special Rapporteur said.

International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity on the land as illegal.

Roughly 500,000 Israelis now live in more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built since Israel occupied the Palestinian West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967.

The Palestinians want these areas -- along with the Gaza Strip -- for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.