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Middle East conflict

UN chief condemns Israel’s decision to resume land registration in West Bank

According to Antonio Guterres, this policy "is eroding the prospect for the two-State solution"

UNITED NATIONS, February 16. /TASS/. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the Israeli government’s decision to resume land registration procedures in the West Bank, according to an official statement of the office of the UN chief.

"The decision could lead to the dispossession of Palestinians of their property and risks expanding Israeli control over land in the area. Such measures, including Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, are not only destabilizing but, as recalled by the International Court of Justice, unlawful. He calls on the Israeli Government to immediately reverse these measures. He again warns that the current trajectory on the ground," the statement says.

"The Secretary-General reiterates that all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions," it reads.

According to Guterres, this policy "is eroding the prospect for the two-State solution."

The Israeli radio station Kan reported on February 15 that the country’s government had endorsed the land registration campaign in the West Bank. This is the first such decision after the 1967 Six-Day War when Israel took control of the West Bank, which had previously been governed by Jordan. According to the Israeli side, this decision cane as a response to the illegal settlement activity carried out by the Palestinian administration in violation of law and agreements.

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