PA head calls on UN to halt Israeli settlement activities

Palestinian Authority Head Mahmoud Abbas has called on the UN to end Israel’s "apartheid" regime in the occupied Palestinian territories.

“We are entrusted and you are entrusted to end apartheid in Palestine," said Abbas while addressing the 72nd UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

He further condemned Israel’s settlement activities, stressing that they are "everywhere" and are jeopardizing the so-called two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 "The two-state solution is today in jeopardy. We cannot as Palestinians stand still in the face of this ongoing threat that is targeting our national, political and social existence on our land, and endangering regional and international peace and security. We will have to take steps or look for alternatives to preserve our national existence and to keep open the horizons for peace and security. However, all the alternatives we are looking into will be non-violent alternatives, non-violent, non-violent," he said.

About 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.