(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) NEW YORK, Sept 15 (KUNA) -- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council Thursday that recent statements by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu portraying those who oppose settlement expansion as supporters of ethnic cleansing, is "unacceptable and outrageous." During the meeting on developments in the Middle East, Ban Ki-moon added the "Two-State solution for the Israelis and Palestinians is at risk of being replaced by a One-State reality of perpetual violence and occupation." The UN Chief noted "let me be absolutely clear, settlements are illegal under international law, the occupation, stifling and oppressive, must end," adding that the "international community, including the Security Council and the Middle East Quartet, universally views the expansion of settlements as an obstacle to peace." In the past two weeks alone, plans were advanced for yet another 463 housing units in four settlements in Area C of the occupied West Bank, as official Israeli data shows that the second quarter of 2016 had the highest number of construction starts in three years.
According to these reports, Ban said the "decades-long policy that has settled more than 500,000 Israelis in Palestinian territory is diametrically opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state." Meanwhile, US Permanent Representative Ambassador Samantha Power strongly opposed the continued Israeli settlement activity, which is corrosive to the cause of peace.
"As we have said repeatedly, such actions are not consistent with Israel's stated desire to achieve a two-state solution," she said.
The US share similar concerns expressed by the Secretary General and other Council members about reports in July that the Israeli government published tenders for hundreds of settlement units in east Jerusalem and advanced other settlement plans. (end) mao.mb