Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: UN / ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS
TRT: 05:58
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN headquarters
16 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator:
“The UN's winterization efforts are underway, distributing tents, blankets and other essential supplies, reaching people where they are. But conditions remain dire, and the risk of hypothermia is increasing with the onset of winter weather. Tragically, the first hypothermia-related death of a two-week-old newborn boy from Khan Younis, was confirmed earlier today.”
4. Med shot, Israeli representative
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator:
“On 8 December, Israeli authorities forcibly entered the UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem, seizing property and replacing the UN flag with an Israeli flag. The Secretary-General strongly condemned these actions and emphasized that the “compound remains United Nations premises and is inviolable and immune from any other form of interference.” On 11 December, the Israeli cabinet decided to approve or regularize 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank. These include the settlements of Ganim and Kadim in the northern West Bank, which had been evacuated by Israel in 2005.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator:
“In 2025, settlement advancement reached its highest level since UN tracking began in 2017. I urge Israel to abide by its obligations under international law, recalling the International Court of Justice advisory opinion of 19 July 2024, which obliges Israel to cease all new settlement activities, evacuate settlers, and end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory promptly.”
8. Med shot, Palestinian representative
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Jennifer Locetta, Ambassador, Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs:
“Colleagues, we have been clear: the United States opposes these quarterly briefings on UNSCR (UN Security Resolution) 2334, as they only distract from pressing threats to international peace and security. Resolution 2803 – not 2334 – charts the path towards a stable, safe, and prosperous Middle East. We are working with partners to stand up the International Stabilization Force and train fully vetted Palestinian Police, not rehashing decades of failed policies. This Council should recognize and end its outsized focus on an outdated resolution. The United States remains focused on keeping Israel secure and Gaza and the West Bank stable. President Trump has been perfectly clear that the United States expects the violence in the West Bank to end, and that the United States will not allow the annexation of the West Bank. Perfunctory meetings like this one today are a distraction. The United States and its partners in the region will continue to focus on improving the situation on the ground, day in and day out.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Palestine:
“The unprecedented escalation of settler violence terrorizing Palestinian communities must be understood in the context of Israel's continuing policy of displacement and replacement of our people. It is inseparable from settlement expansion, which has reached record levels with more than 47,000 housing units advanced, approved or tendered in 2025 alone. This violence unfolds alongside home demolitions by the hundreds. Destructions of infrastructure and uprooting of entire communities from northern West Bank refugee camps to the South Hebron Hills, from East Jerusalem to the Jordan Valley. Settler militias acting hand in hand with the occupying army, systematically targeting our people. The objective is clear and unchanging - annexation. It is evident in East Jerusalem, the E1 area and the Jordan Valley. It aims at destroying the territorial integrity of the Palestinian state and with it any chance for a just peace.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Israel:
“Our New Year’s resolutions for the Security Council in 2026 are clear. Hamas disarmed in Gaza. Iranian backed terrorist proxies dismantled. A Palestinian Authority that stops rewarding terror. A Syria that protects its people. And the Middle East, defined by cooperation and peace. Thank you, Mr. President.”
14. Wide shot, end of Security Council meeting
15. Wide shot, ambassadors walking up to the stakeout area
16. SOUNDBITE (English) James Kariuki, Ambassador, Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United Kingdom:
“We strongly condemn the unprecedented rise in settler violence against Palestinian civilians of all faiths and denominations in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with 2025 the most violent year on record. According to UN OCHA, there were over 260 attacks on Palestinians and their property in October alone. This is deeply alarming. These attacks terrorize civilians, obstruct peace efforts and threaten the security of Israel itself. We call on the government of Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and protect the Palestinian population of the occupied territories.”
17. Wide shot, ambassadors leaving the stakeout area
“On 11 December, the Israeli cabinet decided to approve or regularize 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank,” a senior UN official told the Security Council, warning that settlement activity this year has reached record levels.
Briefing the Council today (16 Dec), Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said the decision included the settlements of Ganim and Kadim in the northern West Bank, which had been evacuated by Israel in 2005. He said that “in 2025, settlement advancement reached its highest level since UN tracking began in 2017,” urging Israel to abide by its obligations under international law, and recalling the International Court of Justice advisory opinion of 19 July 2024, which obliges Israel “to cease all new settlement activities, evacuate settlers, and end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory promptly.”
Alakbarov also raised concerns over developments in East Jerusalem, telling Council members that “on 8 December, Israeli authorities forcibly entered the UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem, seizing property and replacing the UN flag with an Israeli flag.” He recalled that the Secretary-General strongly condemned these actions and emphasized that the “compound remains United Nations premises and is inviolable and immune from any other form of interference.”
Turning to the humanitarian situation, Alakbarov said UN winterization efforts were underway, “distributing tents, blankets and other essential supplies, reaching people where they are.” However, he warned that “conditions remain dire, and the risk of hypothermia is increasing with the onset of winter weather,” confirming that the first hypothermia-related death of a two-week-old newborn boy from Khan Younis, was confirmed earlier today.
The United States Ambassador Jennifer Locetta told the Council, “We have been clear: the United States opposes these quarterly briefings on UNSCR 2334, as they only distract from pressing threats to international peace and security.” She said that “Resolution 2803 – not 2334 – charts the path towards a stable, safe, and prosperous Middle East,” adding that “the United States remains focused on keeping Israel secure and Gaza and the West Bank stable,” and that Washington “will not allow the annexation of the West Bank.”
Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said the “unprecedented escalation of settler violence terrorizing Palestinian communities must be understood in the context of Israel's continuing policy of displacement and replacement of our people.” He said settlement expansion had reached “record levels” with more than 47,000 housing units advanced, approved or tendered in 2025 alone, alongside home demolitions, destruction of infrastructure and the uprooting of entire communities. “The objective is clear and unchanging – annexation,” he told the Council.
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon outlined Israel’s priorities for the coming year, “Hamas disarmed in Gaza. Iranian backed terrorist proxies dismantled. A Palestinian Authority that stops rewarding terror. A Syria that protects its people. And the Middle East, defined by cooperation and peace.”
Speaking earlier to reporters on behalf of Denmark, France, Greece and Slovenia, UK Ambassador James Kariuki said, “We strongly condemn the unprecedented rise in settler violence against Palestinian civilians of all faiths and denominations in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with 2025 the most violent year on record.” Citing UN figures, he said that OCHA recorded over 260 attacks on Palestinians and their property in October alone, calling the situation “deeply alarming.”
