UN coordinator urges end of Israeli settlement to restore hope for two-state solution

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov on Monday urged Israel to end settlement construction in occupied territory and called for joint efforts to restore hope for two-state solution.

Since July 1, Israel has advanced plans for over 1,000 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem, as well as 735 units in settlements in the West Bank, Mladenov said at a UN Security Council meeting calling on Israel to "cease and reverse these decisions" .

He pointed out that the recommendations offered by the Middle East Quartet on July 1 to ensure a return to meaningful negotiations "continue to be ignored," with a surge in Israeli settlement-related announcements and continuing demolitions.

"Let me be clear: no legal acrobatics can change the fact that all outposts -- whether 'legalised' under Israeli law or not, whether located on state land, or absentee land, or private land -- just like all settlements in Area C and East Jerusalem, remain illegal under international law," he said.

The coordinator called on the leaders on both sides to end the conflict.

The peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been stalled since April 2014. The U.S.-sponsored talks that lasted for nine months achieved no tangible results.

"Both sides should work to reverse the negative trajectory, to build trust and to restore hope that a negotiated two-state solution is not just a political slogan but a reality that can be achieved through negotiations in our lifetime," he said. Endit