The Obama administration has blocked a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s latest expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel has announced the construction of thousands of new settlement homes following last month’s historic recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state by the United Nations. The White House has publicly criticized Israel but has refused to take punitive action, including withholding any of the billions in annual U.S. aid. On Wednesday, each member of the U.N. Security Council, except the United States, issued statements condemning the settlement expansion after the United States refused to accept a binding resolution. In his end-of-the-year news conference, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Israel is undermining any remote chance of Middle East peace.

Ban Ki-moon: “This is a near-fatal blow to a very fragile Middle East process, peace process. You have seen my statement in the past, how many times I have been condemning this illegal settlement. This is clearly the violation of international law, and it is a violation of Quartet guidelines, and it is obstructing — obstructing the Middle East peace process.”