(MENAFN) The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has expressed its disapproval of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling them a significant obstacle to peace in the region. On Monday, the Security Council made a statement in which it expressed "deep concern and dismay" over the continued expansion of settlement outposts. It referred to the Israeli government's recent announcement of its intention to legalize nine existing settlements in the West Bank, adding that the ongoing settlement activity is "dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution."

While the Security Council's statement was issued, a separate resolution that would have called for an immediate halt to all settlement activity was reportedly blocked by American negotiators. Nonetheless, the UNSC's condemnation of the Israeli settlements sends a strong signal to Israel and its allies, as the international community increasingly disapproves of its settlement policy.

The two-state solution is one of several proposed blueprints for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict. It envisions an independent Palestinian state based on the borders that existed before the Six-Day War of 1967, in which Israeli forces occupied both Gaza and the West Bank. The UNSC strongly opposes any unilateral measures that impede peace, including the construction and expansion of settlements, the confiscation of Palestinians' land, and the demolition of Palestinian homes, all of which undermine the possibility of a two-state solution.

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