The UN Security Council issued a formal statement on Monday, February 20, 2023, condemning Israeli occupation’s plan to expand Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, after the United States made a decision to support the motion.

The UN Security Council expressed its “dismay” at plans by Israeli occupation’s far-right government to retroactively legalise settlements in occupied Palestinian lands, warning in a statement Monday that such measures “impede peace”.

“The Security Council reiterates that continuing Israeli settlement activities are dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution,” the Council said in a statement supported by all 15 members.

The US backed the statement as part of diplomatic talks to convince the Palestinian Authority to halt efforts advocating for a stronger UN Security Council resolution promoted last week.

The earlier draft of the resolution was proposed by the UAE on the behalf of the Palestinians. It called on the Israeli occupation to “immediately and completely cease” settlement activities in occupied Palestinian areas.

The statement is the first the UN Security Council issued against the Israeli occupation in six years.