PLO urges Security Council meeting on settlements

The Palestinian leadership agreed Saturday to call on the UN Security Council for an urgent meeting on Israel's settlement expansion on Palestinian land. The meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee in Ramallah, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, agreed to begin international contacts and consultations on the issue, a statement said. Amid the impasse over negotiations with Israel, the committee said the situation requires a meaningful intervention from the international community. The current situation is a real threat to the national project and two-state solution, the PLO governing body said. PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo also warned at the Saturday meeting that the Palestinian Authority would face difficulties paying employees next month and during Muslim holy month Ramadan, calling on Arab states to help stave off the government's financial crisis. Negotiations between Israel and the PLO broke down in late 2010 after Netanyahu refused to extend a partial freeze on illegal settlement building on occupied Palestinian land. In February 2011, the PA sought a UN resolution declaring Israeli settlement building illegal. Fourteen members of the 15-member Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, but it was vetoed by the US. The text of the resolution was based on Washington's own statements on the illegality of Israeli settlements. After vetoing the resolution, the US maintained that it considered Israeli settlements to be illegal and a threat to prospects for peace.