Briefing the Security Council on Monday, Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN Deputy Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, presented Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres\u2019s latest report on the implementation of Council resolution 2334, which calls for Israel to \u201cimmediately and completely cease all settlement activity\u201d in occupied Palestinian land.<\/p>\n
Between June and September, Israeli authorities advanced or approved nearly 21 000 housing units in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In early July, 15 cabinet ministers and the Knesset speaker signed a petition urging annexation of the territory, followed weeks later by a non-binding parliamentary motion supporting full Israeli sovereignty over all settlements.<\/p>\n
At the same time, demolitions of Palestinian-owned structures surged. More than 450 buildings were destroyed or seized on the grounds of lacking Israeli building permits, permits that Palestinians say are almost impossible to obtain. Some 420 people, mostly women and children, were displaced, with donor-funded structures also targeted.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Gaza has endured intensified Israeli military operations that left at least 7 579 Palestinians dead and more than 37 000 injured, according to local health officials. Nearly 2 000 people were reportedly killed while attempting to collect aid. Israel confirmed the deaths of 37 of its soldiers during the same period, while 48 hostages remain in Gaza, 25 of whom are believed dead.<\/p>\n
Violence also persisted in the West Bank, where 46 Palestinians were killed in security operations, settler attacks and clashes, while armed Palestinians killed seven Israelis. Hundreds more were injured on both sides.<\/p>\n
Alakbarov reiterated the Secretary-General\u2019s position that Israeli settlements \u201chave no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation of international law\u201d.<\/p>\n
He warned that a proposed plan to build 3 400 homes in the contentious E1 zone could sever the northern and southern West Bank, undermining the viability of a future Palestinian state and heightening tensions further.<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12410,"template":"default||default||default||default||default||default||default||default","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[],"class_list":["post-12409","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The United Nations (UN) has raised alarm over a sharp increase in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, mounting threats of annexation and worsening violence across the Palestinian territories.||The United Nations (UN) has raised alarm over a sharp increase in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, mounting threats of annexation and worsening violence across the Palestinian territories.||The United Nations (UN) has raised alarm over a sharp increase in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, mounting threats of annexation and worsening violence across the Palestinian territories.||The United Nations (UN) has raised alarm over a sharp increase in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, mounting threats of annexation and worsening violence across the Palestinian territories.||The United Nations (UN) has raised alarm over a sharp increase in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, mounting threats of annexation and worsening violence across the Palestinian territories.||The United Nations (UN) has raised alarm over a sharp increase in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, mounting threats of annexation and worsening violence across the Palestinian territories.||The United Nations (UN) has raised alarm over a sharp increase in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, mounting threats of annexation and worsening violence across the Palestinian territories.||The United Nations (UN) has raised alarm over a sharp increase in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, mounting threats of annexation and worsening violence across the Palestinian territories.","published_date":null,"news_description":"","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18031,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12409\/revisions\/18031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=12409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}