Explanation of Vote by Archie Young, UK Ambassador to the General Assembly, at the UN Fourth Committee on Palestine.
The United Kingdom has voted Yes on this resolution as an expression of our longstanding position on the illegality of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Expansion of settlements undermines prospects for peace and must cease immediately.
We have witnessed, with grave concern, how an increasing number of Israeli settlers have systemically used harassment, intimidation and violence to pressure Palestinian communities to leave their land. We call on Israel to hold those responsible to account.
After an unprecedented rise in settler violence over the past year, the UK has imposed sanctions on extremist Israeli groups and individuals for violence in the West Bank.
We reiterate our clear position that any attempt to alter the geographic or demographic make-up of the Occupied Palestinian Territories through the use of force and outside of a negotiated solution is wholly unacceptable and illegal.
However I wish to make clear we do not believe that Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions establishes third party obligations.
Chair, the UK is clear that the Occupation must be brought to an end through a negotiated solution, with a unified Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in line with 1967 lines and agreed land swaps, under the effective control of the Palestinian Authority, with Jerusalem as the shared capital of both states and with a just, fair, agreed and realistic settlement for refugees. Peace must be premised upon a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.
