The United Nations Security Council unanimously denounced Israeli plans to expand its settlements in the occupied West Bank, stressing that the settlement activities harm the viability of the two-state solution.

A statement read at the conclusion of a special meeting expressed the Council’s “deep concern and dismay with Israel's announcement on Feb. 12, 2023, announcing further construction and expansion of settlements and the legitimization of settlement outposts."

It added: "The Security Council reiterates that continuing Israeli settlement activities are dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution based on the 1967 lines."

Read by Vanessa Frazier, Malta's UN envoy who is serving as the council's president for the month of February, the statement said: "The Security Council strongly underscores the need for all parties to meet their international obligations and commitments, strongly opposes all unilateral measures that impede peace, including, inter alia, Israeli construction and expansion of settlements, confiscation of Palestinian lands, and the legitimate legalization of settlement outposts, demolition of Palestinians homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians."

The statement further condemned all acts of violence against civilians, including those that have targeted Palestinians and Israelis, and called "on all parties to observe calm and restraint and to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric, with the aim, inter alia, of escalating the situation on the ground."