UN envoy to the Middle East: All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and must be stopped 

The United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Tor Winsland, warned against the plans of the Israeli occupation, the continued settlement expansion, the demolition of Palestinian homes and facilities, and allowing the return of settlers to settlements that were evacuated in 2005, stressing that all settlements are illegal under international law and must be stopped.

In a briefing to the UN Security Council, Winsland stated that the occupation authorities ordered the establishment of about 310 settlement units on Palestinian lands, while during the last month they demolished 33 Palestinian buildings, which led to the displacement of 89 people, including 45 children. He referred to the escalation of settlers’ crimes against the Palestinians and their implementation of repeated provocative incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque and the old town in occupied Jerusalem.

Winsland pointed out that the recent Israeli aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip resulted in the martyrdom and injury of hundreds of Palestinians, including women and children, in addition to the martyrdom and injury of a number of Palestinians in the West Bank, calling on Member States to increase their support to the Palestinians, including funding UNRWA and the World Food Program.  He underlined the urgency of taking measures, not only to ensure the well-being of the Palestinians, but to end the occupation in accordance with international law.

Inas Abdulkareem