UN to be asked to condemn Israeli settlements

The Palestinian Authority will ask the United Nations Security Council to reaffirm it's position on illegal Israeli settlements in the coming days.

The bill will call on the UN to condemn the settlements and demand that construction on new homes in these areas cease. Under UN law, settlements built on Palestinian land by the Israeli government are illegal. Many of the settlements are built by evicting Palestinian families from their land and replacing them with large apartment blocks which are fortified with heavy defences and security cordons. This process of building illegal settlements in occupied territory has continued despite it being considered illegal by the UN and being recognised as a major issue in negotiating a lasting peace. The continued settlement expansion onto Palestinian land is also used to justify continuing rocket attacks on Israel by small militant groups.

The US Secretary of State has already confirmed that it will oppose the bill when it is brought before the Security Council despite agreeing that Israeli settlement is seen as "corrosive". Meanwhile a spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed that this resolution was akin to "renouncing peace altogether".

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority said that "settlements are the major obstacles before a peace deal".