UNSC to informally meet on West Bank settlements ahead of Trump plan

“Our position is very clear on the issue of Palestine, we want to make sure that resolution 2334 is faithfully implemented.”

The United Nations Security Council is set to hold an informal meeting on West Bank settlements on May 9, in advance of the anticipated rollout of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, possibly as early as June.

The UNSC last held such a meeting in 2016, under a mechanism known as the Arria-Formula, that allows for a gathering of the council upon the request of a member state. No formal action can be taken at such a meeting.

Indonesian Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, whose country has taken over the UNSC presidency for the month of May announced the meeting a press conference in New York late Wednesday.

“We are thinking of having an Arria-Formula on the issue for Palestine, particularly focusing on the issue of settlements. That will happen on May 9,” Djani said.

In December 2016, the UNSC approved resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement activity and disavowed Israeli sovereignty in east Jerusalem.

UNSC Resolution 2334 demanded “that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and that it fully respect all of its legal obligations in this regard.”

Indonesia is among many UN members who believe that Israel must comply with the resolution. At Monday’s UNSC meeting on the Middle East, many of those countries spoke out on the matter. They also expressed their concern that the Trump peace plan would deviate from the international understanding that the resolution of the conflict when dividing land should be based on the pre-1967 lines. “Our position is very clear on the issue of Palestine, we want to make sure that resolution 2334 is faithfully implemented,” Djani told reporters in New York Wednesday.

“It is a priority for us,” he added.

At the UNSC meeting Monday, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon defended the Jewish right to the Land of Israel, including the settlements.

British Ambassador Karen Pierce said, “the advancement of yet more illegal settlements is eroding the viability of the two state solution.”