Speakers at the virtual open debate of the United Nations Security Council held today to discuss President Mahmoud Abbas' call on the UN Secretary-General to convene an international peace conference to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have in general condemned Israeli settlement plans as detrimental to peace and the two-state solution and supported the idea of an international peace conference.
Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Council that the recent Israeli authorities' advancing of some 5,000 settlement housing units in the occupied Palestinian territories "is of great concern," and impede the contiguity of a future Palestinian state.
"While the location of these units is particularly worrying, I reiterate that all settlements are illegal under international law and remain a substantial obstacle to peace. Settlement-related activities should cease as they undermine the prospect of achieving a viable two-State solution in line with UN resolutions, international law and prior agreements," he said.
Similar condemnation of Israel's settlement activities came from representatives of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium, while Russia, China, Vietnam, Tunisia, Indonesia, South Africa, the Niger, the Dominican Republic, and the other speakers supported President Abbas' idea of convening an international peace conference to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and lead to the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.
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