US envoy to UN slams resolution on illegality of Israel settlements 

The US Ambassador to the United Nations Security Council, Kelly Craft on Wednesday slammed United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 issued in 2016, which demands Israel immediately halt settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem.

Speaking at the Security Council headquarters in New York, Craft described the resolution as “one-sided” and “unfairly critical of Israel”; reiterating the full support of the US administration for Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov said during the same session that since the resolution was adopted in 2016, Israel had pushed forward plans to construct over 22,000 housing units in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem; noting that out of the 22,000 housing units, Israel has issued tenders for 8,000.

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Mladenov warned that the numbers “should be of serious concern to all those who continue to support the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state alongside Israel.”

In 2016, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2334 which declared Israeli settlements have no “legal validity”. The United States, under President Barack Obama, abstained from voting on the resolution at the time.

Earlier this year, the administration of Donald Trump abandoned the US’ four-decade position that settlements were “inconsistent with international law”.