Palestine Urges UN to Hold Israeli 'Occupiers' Accountable for New Settlements

The United Nations should hold Israel accountable for the settlements on the occupied Palestinian territory after Israel had adopted the law retrospectively legalizing them, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of State of Palestine said in a statement Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The ministry called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council "to take mandatory measures and decisions that would put an end to the Israeli settlement activity and its noncompliance with international resolutions," as cited by the Palestinian WAFA news agency.

The ministry said the international community reacted to Israel's activities with "formality condemnation" that said nothing about "holding the occupiers accountable for their acts."

It urged the council to adopt the obligatory mechanisms supplementing the Resolution 2334 and to support Palestinian efforts to put Israel on trial in specialized international courts as an occupation power.

"The occupying authority has adapted itself to all forms of settlement condemnation as long as these statements do not include real penalizing steps and do not have an effect on their bilateral relations with Israel," the statement said.

Israel’s parliament passed the law legalizing almost 4,000 Jewish housing units on about 2,000 acres of privately owned Palestinian land. The law provides for compensation to Palestinian landowners.

According to the Resolution 2334 of the United Nations Security Council, adopted on December 23, 2016, Israel is to stop settlement activity in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, as these activities are violating international law. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the resolution an anti-Israel maneuver and claimed Israel would not comply with the conditions of the document.