HAMILTON, Canada

A senior UN official warned Monday that Israel's accelerating illegal settlement activity and military operations in the Gaza Strip are deepening violations of international law and fueling displacement and humanitarian disaster.

Presenting the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' report on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, Ramiz Alakbarov, deputy special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, noted the "accelerated" illegal Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem during the reporting period between June 18 and Sept. 19.

The UN resolution 2334 calls on Israel to "immediately and completely cease all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem."

"The Israeli planning authorities advanced or approved approximately 20,810 housing units in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem," Alakbarov told the UN Security Council.

He said Israeli demolitions also surged, with 455 structures destroyed or seized, displacing 420 persons, including 175 children and 118 women, including 30 donor-funded projects.

Warning against the controversial Israeli E1 settlement plan, Alakbarov said: "The advancement of the E1 plan is a calamitous development."

"If implemented, it would effectively sever the connection between the northern and southern West Bank, further undermining the contiguity of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state, increasing the risk of forced displacement, and fueling tensions," he added.

Alakbarov stressed that "Israeli settlements have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation of international law and UN resolutions. They are systematically shrinking the territory of the Palestinian State and further entrenching Israel's unlawful occupation."

On Gaza, he condemned Israel's expanding military operations: "I am appalled by the escalation of Israeli military operations throughout the Gaza Strip, which continues to bring death at an unprecedented rate and destruction to Palestinians. I condemn the killing of civilians in Gaza, including women and children. The situation in Gaza is morally, politically, and legally intolerable."

"The collective punishment of the Palestinian people can never be justified and must end immediately,” he said, warning against forced displacement and "any form of ethnic cleansing."

Describing the famine in Gaza as "a man-made disaster," Alakbarov urged safe humanitarian access, stressing that "we must be allowed to safely and securely distribute assistance to people in need wherever they are."

He said the "continued devastation and misery on the ground" underscores the urgent need to end Israel's occupation and relaunch a political process toward a two-state solution in line with international law.