UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday demanded Israel to halt and revoke its decision this week to approve almost 780 new homes in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli approval of such step came a few days before the inauguration of US president-elect Joe Biden.
The decision is “a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just lasting and comprehensive peace” in the Middle East Guterres said in a statement.
“The establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 including east Jerusalem has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law” he said.
“Settlement expansion increases the risk of confrontation further undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and further erodes the possibility of ending the occupation and establishing a contiguous and viable sovereign Palestinian State based on the pre-1967 lines” he added.
The action has already been condemned by the European Union the United Kingdom Germany Italy and many other countries and human right groups.
Peace Now an Israeli left-wing watchdog said that over 90 percent of the settler homes would be built deep inside the West Bank which the Palestinians seek as the heartland of a future independent state and over 200 homes would be located in unauthorized outposts that the government decided to legalize.
