UN Security Council postpones vote on resolution against Israeli settlements
The United Nations Security Council has postponed a vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt its illegal settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The 15-member body was scheduled to vote on the resolution, circulated by Egypt, on Thursday.
According to diplomats, the vote on the draft resolution has been delayed to allow time for consultations on the measure but no new time or date has been scheduled.
The draft resolution demands that “Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory," including East Jerusalem al-Quds as the establishment of settlements is a "flagrant violation" of international law and has “no legal validity.”
There are conflicting reports about reasons behind the postponement of the vote.
Sources close to the matter told Reuters on Thursday that Israel had asked Egypt to delay the vote. Meanwhile, a Western diplomat told Reuters that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi had instructed Egypt's UN mission to postpone the vote.
Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier urged the United States to use its veto power at the council to block the resolution.
In addition, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon called for the draft resolution to be vetoed.
“We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the council,” Danon said in a statement.
Responding to calls by Israeli authorities, US President-elect Donald Trump in a statement issued early on Thursday called for the veto of the resolution.
"The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," the incoming Republican president said.
Washington has shielded Tel Aviv against such moves at the Security Council on several other occasions in the past, including a similar one in 2011.
Over half a million Israelis live in more than 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem al-Quds.
All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Tel Aviv has defied global calls to stop the expansion of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel’s settlement expansion has been among the main reasons behind the collapse of the last round of the so-called Middle East peace talks in 2014.
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