The United Nations Security Council issued an official statement on Monday, condemning Israel's plan to expand settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

The United States supported the statement, while Israel described it as biased, after retracting a draft resolution calling for an immediate cessation of settlement activity.

"The Security Council reiterates that the continuation of Israeli settlement activities seriously threatens the possibility of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders," the statement said.

He also affirmed "his opposition to all unilateral measures that impede peace, including the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements, the confiscation of Palestinian lands, the legalization of settlements, the demolition of Palestinian homes and the displacement of Palestinian civilians."

The draft resolution, seen by Reuters, would have called on Israel to "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories".

Decisions need the approval of 9 council members, with none of the permanent members (the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain) using veto power.

And the French Press Agency quoted a diplomat as saying that the draft resolution was withdrawn after talks between the Palestinians and the Americans.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Monday that Israel would not allow new settlements to be established in the occupied West Bank in the coming months.

On February 12, the Israeli national-religious coalition government granted retroactive authorization to nine settlement sites built without government permission, angering Palestinians who demand West Bank lands for their state.

American support

Washington's support - the first move against its ally Tel Aviv in 6 years - for the council's presidency statement came after the United Arab Emirates said it would not put a stronger draft resolution in this regard to a vote, a move that could have prompted the United States to use its veto. ).

The UAE indicated to its counterparts in the Security Council on Sunday that there were "positive talks between the partners."

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield told the Security Council that the United States opposes Israel's settlement plans announced on February 12.

"These unilateral steps exacerbate tensions. They damage trust between the parties. They undermine the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution. The United States does not support these measures. Enough is enough," she added.

Greenfield described the Security Council's statement as "real diplomatic skill", which shows how serious it is "in dealing with these threats to peace."

"The United States has joined other members of this council in calling on both Israelis and Palestinians to take the urgent and necessary steps to restore calm and improve the quality of life for their people," she said.

In December 2016, the administration of former US President Barack Obama abstained from voting in the Security Council on a resolution calling on Israel to stop building settlements, but it did not use its veto to prevent it.

As for Human Rights Watch, it said, "Today's announcement is useful, despite its mitigating content under pressure from the United States and Israel, but it is far from the stark condemnation that the grave situation deserves."

The Israeli ambassador observed a minute of silence without being matched by any of the members of the delegations present (Reuters)

Israeli condemnation

For its part, Israel condemned the UN Security Council's statement on settlements in the occupied West Bank, considering it "one-sided" and denying the "historic" right of the Jews.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the statement "ignores the Palestinian terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, in which 10 Israeli citizens were assassinated" in recent weeks, and believed that "the United States should never have endorsed" this text.

For his part, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, condemned the Security Council's decision.

"Today's meeting should have been devoted entirely to the innocent Israelis who were finally killed," he said, before getting up and standing for a minute's silence without being matched by any of the members of the delegations present.

Riyad Mansour: Isolating a party is a step in the right direction (Reuters)

Palestinian positions

Regarding the Palestinian position, the ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, was asked about his feelings of disappointment, and he replied that it was important to reach a "unified position" on the council.

The Palestinian ambassador told reporters that "isolating a party is a step in the right direction."

In turn, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Wasel Abu Youssef, said that the Palestinian leadership considered that the statement issued by the UN Security Council regarding Israeli settlements did not meet its aspirations.

Abu Youssef did not confirm or deny the existence of a Palestinian-Israeli agreement sponsored by the United States, regarding postponing the vote in the UN Security Council on a draft resolution drafted by the UAE in agreement with Palestine, condemning Israeli settlements.

For its part, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said that the Security Council statement expresses the fragility and weakness of the international position on the occupation's crimes and its continuous settlement policies.

And the movement added, in a statement: We deplore the Security Council's decision to issue a statement instead of a resolution condemning the occupation's crimes against our people and its settlement policies.

It called on the international community and the Security Council to take practical deterrent measures against the occupation and its settlement policy.

The past years have witnessed a remarkable rise in settlement activity, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced more than once in recent weeks that his government will give a greater impetus to settlement activity.

About 725,000 settlers are distributed in 176 large settlements and 186 random outposts in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to data from the Settlement Affairs Authority of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Under international law, all Israeli settlements in occupied territory are considered "illegal", and the United Nations has said their expansion "violates" human rights law.