Summary
The Security Council’s resolution of 23 December 2016, adopted at its 7853rd meeting, which reaffirms its relevant resolutions including 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 446 (1979), 452 (1979), 465 (1980), 476 (1980), 478 (1980), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003) and 1850 (2008), condemns all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, including the construction and expansion of settlements, transfer of Israeli settlers, confiscation of land, demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians, expresses grave concern that continuing Israeli settlement activities are dangerously imperilling the viability of the two-State solution based on the 1967 lines, reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace, reiterates its demand that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, underlines that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations, calls upon all States to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967, and requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council every three months on implementation of the resolution (Resolution 2334 (2016) on Israeli settlements (23 December 2016), PDF p.1-3).
What the file is
United Nations document S/RES/2334 (2016), Distr.: General, 23 December 2016, 3 PDF pages, about 986 words in the text copy. The text copy is clean and matches the original. No vote count is given in the file.
Section by section
- Preamble, reaffirmations (PDF p.1). Reaffirming the relevant resolutions listed in the Summary; guided by the Charter’s purposes and principles, reaffirming the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force; reaffirming Israel’s obligation as the occupying Power to abide scrupulously by its legal obligations and responsibilities under the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, and recalling the International Court of Justice advisory opinion of 9 July 2004.
- Preamble, condemnation and concern (PDF p.1). Condemning all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, including, inter alia, the construction and expansion of settlements, transfer of Israeli settlers, confiscation of land, demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law and relevant resolutions; expressing grave concern that continuing Israeli settlement activities are dangerously imperilling the viability of the two-State solution based on the 1967 lines.
- Preamble, Roadmap obligations recalled (PDF p.1). The obligation under the Quartet Roadmap, endorsed by resolution 1515 (2003), for a freeze by Israel of all settlement activity, including “natural growth”, and the dismantlement of all settlement outposts erected since March 2001; also the obligation under the Quartet roadmap for the Palestinian Authority Security Forces to maintain effective operations aimed at confronting all those engaged in terror and dismantling terrorist capabilities, including the confiscation of illegal weapons.
- Preamble, violence, vision and status quo (PDF p.2). Condemning all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation, incitement and destruction; reiterating its vision of a region where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders; stressing that the status quo is not sustainable and that significant steps, consistent with the transition contemplated by prior agreements, are urgently needed to stabilize the situation and reverse negative trends on the ground, which are steadily eroding the two-State solution and entrenching a one-State reality, and to create the conditions for successful final status negotiations and for advancing the two-State solution through those negotiations and on the ground.
- Operative paragraph 1 (PDF p.2). Reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.
- Operative paragraph 2 (PDF p.2). Reiterates its demand 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.
- Operative paragraph 3 (PDF p.2). Underlines that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations.
- Operative paragraph 4 (PDF p.2). Stresses that the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-State solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground that are imperilling the two-State solution.
- Operative paragraph 5 (PDF p.2). Calls upon all States, bearing in mind paragraph 1 of this resolution, to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967.
- Operative paragraph 6 (PDF p.2). Calls for immediate steps to prevent all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation and destruction, calls for accountability in this regard, and calls for compliance with obligations under international law for the strengthening of ongoing efforts to combat terrorism, including through existing security coordination, and to clearly condemn all acts of terrorism.
- Operative paragraph 7 (PDF p.2). Calls upon both parties to act on the basis of international law, including international humanitarian law, and their previous agreements and obligations, to observe calm and restraint, and to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric, with the aim, inter alia, of de-escalating the situation on the ground, rebuilding trust and confidence, demonstrating through policies and actions a genuine commitment to the two-State solution, and creating the conditions necessary for promoting peace.
- Operative paragraph 8 (PDF p.2-3). Calls upon all parties to continue, in the interest of the promotion of peace and security, to exert collective efforts to launch credible negotiations on all final status issues in the Middle East peace process and within the time frame specified by the Quartet in its statement of 21 September 2010.
- Operative paragraph 9 (PDF p.3). Urges the intensification and acceleration of international and regional diplomatic efforts and support aimed at achieving, without delay, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, including the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Quartet Roadmap and an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967; and underscores the importance of the ongoing efforts to advance the Arab Peace Initiative, the initiative of France for the convening of an international peace conference, the recent efforts of the Quartet, as well as the efforts of Egypt and the Russian Federation.
- Operative paragraphs 10-13 (PDF p.3). Confirms its determination to support the parties throughout the negotiations and in the implementation of an agreement; reaffirms its determination to examine practical ways and means to secure the full implementation of its relevant resolutions; requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council every three months on the implementation of the provisions of the present resolution; decides to remain seized of the matter.
Key passages
- “Reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace” (operative paragraph 1, PDF p.2)
- “Underlines that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations” (operative paragraph 3, PDF p.2)
- “Calls upon all States, bearing in mind paragraph 1 of this resolution, to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967” (operative paragraph 5, PDF p.2)
Evidence the work relies on
A Security Council resolution, not an evidentiary work. Its stated bases are the resolutions it reaffirms, the Fourth Geneva Convention and the 9 July 2004 International Court of Justice advisory opinion it recalls, and the Quartet Roadmap obligations it recalls for both sides. It cites no figures, settlement counts or population data; its findings on settlement activity are stated as the Council’s concern and determination without supporting evidence in the text.
Analysis
Resolution 2334 restates the settlement line of 446 (1979) and 465 (1980) in their combined terms and adds two operative elements those texts, as held in the wiki, do not contain in this form. Paragraph 1 joins 446’s “no legal validity” to the “flagrant violation” formulation and names the two-State solution, not only comprehensive peace, as what settlements obstruct. Paragraph 5 turns paragraph 1 outward to all States, calling on them to distinguish in their relevant dealings between Israel’s territory and the territories occupied since 1967, and paragraph 12 creates a recurring check: Secretary-General reports every three months on implementation, where 446 had set a single Commission report and reconvening. The preamble frames urgency in viability terms — negative trends “entrenching a one-State reality” against the reiterated two-State vision — and the Roadmap recall is two-sided, the settlement freeze including “natural growth” and outposts since March 2001 set beside the Palestinian Authority Security Forces’ counter-terror obligations, though the operative paragraphs’ settlement demands address Israel alone and its violence and restraint paragraphs address both parties or all parties.
People, organizations, places and events
UN Security Council Resolution 2334, UN Security Council, UN Security Council Resolution 446, UN Security Council Resolution 465, UN Security Council Resolution 1397, UN Security Council Resolution 1515, Fourth Geneva Convention, International Court of Justice, City of Jerusalem, Quartet Roadmap
Concepts
How it relates to other sources
This is the primary text for Resolution 2334, not previously held as a source in the wiki; the resolution was previously present only as cited in other works, including the Al-Haq history in Al-Haq: A Global History of the First Palestinian Human Rights Organization. It is the successor in the wiki’s settlement line to Resolution 446 (1979): Israeli settlements (22 March 1979) and Resolution 465 (1980): Israeli settlements (1 March 1980) — 446 determined settlements have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction, and the study account records 465 escalating to a flagrant violation; 2334 combines both determinations and adds the distinction call in paragraph 5 and quarterly reporting in paragraph 12. Its Roadmap recall quotes the freeze terms of A Performance-Based Road Map to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Quartet, transmitted 7 May 2003) as endorsed by Resolution 1515 (2003) endorsing the Quartet Roadmap (19 November 2003). Resolution 67/19: Status of Palestine in the United Nations (29 November 2012), four years earlier, had reaffirmed complete cessation of settlement activities as part of its peaceful-settlement line; 2334 does not recall it.
Open questions
- No vote count is given in the file, so the resolution’s adoption margin cannot be stated from it.
- The Secretary-General’s quarterly reports requested in paragraph 12 are not in this file.
- The Quartet statement of 21 September 2010, whose time frame paragraph 8 invokes for negotiations, is not held as a source in the wiki and its time frame is not stated in this file.
Coverage
PDF p.1-3 of 3, read in full.