UN Chief: Israel Policies 'Affront' to the International Community

Speaking at the UN Security Council's Middle East debate on Tuesday, Ban said the new year had begun as 2015 ended "with unacceptable levels of violence and a polarized public discourse across the spectrum in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory."

He condemned a series of violent attacks carried out by Palestinians in recent months, but said that Israeli security measures were failing to "address the profound sense of alienation and despair driving some Palestinians -- especially young people."

Ban said: "Palestinian frustration is growing under the weight of a half century of occupation and the paralysis of the peace process. Some have taken me to task for pointing out this indisputable truth.

"Yet, as oppressed peoples have demonstrated throughout the ages, it is human nature to react to occupation, which often serves as a potent incubator of hate and extremism," Ma'an News Agency reported.

The UN Secretary-General urged drastic change to key Israeli policies toward the occupied territory.

"So-called facts on the ground in the occupied West Bank are steadily chipping away the viability of a Palestinian state and the ability of Palestinian people to live in dignity," he said.

"Continued settlement activities are an affront to the Palestinian people and to the international community. They rightly raise fundamental questions about Israel’s commitment to a two-state solution."

He said that Palestinians must be allowed development in land classified Area C, where Israel has complete civil and military authority and which comprises more than 60 percent of the West Bank.

He also drew attention to reports on Tuesday that Israel has recently approved a further 150 homes in settlements across the West Bank, and the announcement last week that Israel was seizing 1,500 dunams of land south of Jericho.

"These provocative acts are bound to increase the growth of settler populations, further heighten tensions, and undermine any prospects for a political road ahead," he said.

He criticized Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes and highlighted the situation of Palestinian Bedouins currently facing forced transfer in the Jerusalem area.

Ban also called on the international community to meet its responsibility in Gaza, pointing in particular to UNRWA's recent emergency appeal for over $400 million to support vulnerable Palestinian refugees.

Ban's comments follow weeks of mounting international criticism of Israeli key policies.

Last week, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said the US was "concerned and perplexed" by Israeli policies such as state support for illegal settlements, land use in the West Bank, and a legal double standard for Palestinians and Israelis.

At the same time, the European Union reiterated "its strong opposition to Israel's settlement policy and actions taken in this context, such as building the separation barrier beyond the 1967 line, demolitions and confiscation -- including of EU funded projects -- evictions, forced transfers including of Bedouins, illegal outposts and restrictions of movement and access."