Overview
- Council members convened in New York on Feb. 18 to address Israeli measures to tighten control over the West Bank, drawing broad condemnation from multiple delegations.
- Israel’s foreign minister, Gadi Saar, defended the steps as protecting the property rights of Israelis and Palestinians and asserted that Israelis are the indigenous people.
- UN Deputy Secretary‑General Rosemary DiCarlo warned that developments amount to a de facto, gradual annexation of the West Bank.
- The United Kingdom, presiding over the meeting, criticized settlement expansion and settler violence as at historically worst levels and a clear breach of international law.
- France and China said the measures undermine prospects for a two‑state solution and urged reversal, with Russia, Somalia, and Pakistan also citing violations of international law, while no binding Council action was reported.