Today, Tuesday, 5 member states of the UN Security Council called for a halt to Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
This came in a statement issued by the representatives of France, Estonia, Ireland, Norway, and Albania, the next member of the Council, as of next January, after the end of a closed consultation session held by the Council to discuss Israel’s decision issued last October, which classified 6 Palestinian organizations as terrorist."
Estonia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Sven Jorgenson, told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York that the five countries agreed to issue a statement calling on the government of Israel to stop settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
"We reiterate our strong opposition to settlement expansion, and we affirm that we will not recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed upon by the parties."
The Israeli occupation continues to build settlements despite the international rejection and continuous calls to stop it (Al-Jazeera)
On the position of the five countries on Israel's decision regarding Palestinian organizations, the Estonian ambassador said, "We take this classification seriously, which is a source of grave concern, and we will engage with the Israeli authorities to obtain more information regarding the basis of these classifications."
US Consulate
For his part, the Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, urged the reopening of the US Consulate General in Jerusalem (the US diplomatic representation first began in Jerusalem in 1844), before it was closed by former US President Donald Trump in 2019.
He said - in statements to reporters at the UN headquarters - "We are talking with the Americans on this issue, and we hope that they will quickly implement this step."
The Trump administration closed the consulate in 2019 and made it a section of the US embassy after it was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
However, the US State Department in the current administration has said - on more than one occasion in recent months - that it will move forward with reopening the consulate, which is tasked with coordinating the relationship with the Palestinians.
Mansour indicated that the closed consultations session of the Security Council was "productive and positive, and there is a consensus among the members of the Council to stop settlements," but added, "But this is not enough because what is required is the implementation of Resolution 2334."
Resolution 2334 - issued on December 23, 2016 - confirms the illegality of Israel's establishment of settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, and called on Tel Aviv to immediately stop all settlement activities on the occupied Palestinian territories.