International News

UNITED NATIONS, United States, Oct 19 (APP/AFP): Israel must face consequences for its failure to heed international appeals to stop building Jewish settlements on Palestinian land, the Palestinian envoy to the UN told the Security Council on Wednesday. Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour accused Israel of eroding prospects for a future Palestinian state and creating a “one-state reality” that was tantamount to apartheid. “The global calls for cessation of Israeli settlement activities and crimes against the Palestinian people must be backed with serious, practical measures to compel Israeli compliance with the law,” Mansour told a council debate on the Middle East. “There must be consequences if Israel continues to violate international law.” The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal and has repeatedly called on Israel to halt them, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months. UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the council that Israel was pressing ahead with new settlements, citing a recent decision to build an initial 98 out of 300 housing units in Shilo, in the West Bank. Mladenov said this planned settlement will “drive a wedge between north and south in the West Bank and jeopardize the contiguity of a future Palestinian state.”